The benefits of woodland creation: a look at the Woodland Carbon Code and Woodland Carbon Guarantee

Creating new woodlands is proven to help tackle the effects of climate change. Trees act as a natural ‘carbon sink’ by absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Through photosynthesis, trees convert this carbon dioxide by using water and sunlight to create glucose – helping them grow. Oxygen is released back into the air, whilst the carbon from the glucose is locked up and stored in the tree. This is carbon sequestration. Decomposing organic matter also contains carbon, which is absorbed into woodland soils.

Growing a woodland could also generate an income from selling carbon units or help offset your business’ emissions. To sell carbon units, you must register and validate your woodland and its potential carbon capture with the Woodland Carbon Code before planting.

The Woodland Carbon Code

The Woodland Carbon Code is the quality assurance standard for UK-based woodland creation projects hoping to create carbon offsets. The code generates independently verified carbon units, backed by the government and experts within forestry and the carbon market.

New woodland creation projects which meet the code’s standards could provide an alternative income stream and save costs through:

1. Selling Pending Issuance Units (PIUs) - an estimate of the future carbon dioxide the woodland will capture

2. Selling sequestered carbon as verified Woodland Carbon Units (WCUs)

3. 'Growing your own' units if you plan to become carbon neutral

A woodland creation project validated and verified by the code provides greater market trust which can result in companies paying higher prices.

How much income can be generated from selling carbon units?

The value of carbon units ranges from £10 to £50+ per unit. Greater carbon capture will result in more carbon units to sell, so when designing your new woodland, consider appropriate tree species, spacing and future management activity. A native broadleaf project may expect to capture around 500 tonnes of carbon per hectare over 100 years. At 500 units per hectare, this could equate to between £5,000-£25,000 per hectare.

After you have registered your project, you can start planting and generate carbon units. Within three years the woodland must be validated to generate and list PIUs. A verification assessment is needed in year five and again by year fifteen to check the woodland is growing as expected, and to enable verified PIUs to be converted into WCUs.

The Woodland Carbon Guarantee

The Woodland Carbon Guarantee (WCaG) ensures long term certainty by providing a guaranteed price for WCUs and reducing the financial risk often associated with long-term investments.

Projects registered with the code and holding a valid WCaG contract can sell their verified WCUs to the government for a guaranteed, index-linked price for the life of the contract. However, to allow you flexibility and the ability to make income from a rising market, you can still choose to sell your carbon units on the open market at any point in time.

Find out how trees can benefit you, your land, the environment and future generations at gov.uk/government/collections/how-trees-can-capture-and-offset-carbon-emissions.

Get in touch:  SWwoodlandcreation@forestrycommission.gov.uk