Donaldson Deer Service
Rows of young trees in white tree tubes across a newly planted field, with farmland and trees in the distance

Grants & Funding

Grants for woodland and deer management, explained plainly

Landowners and farmers across North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, East Lancashire, South Durham, Teesside can get significant costs of new planting, fencing, protection, and deer control covered by government schemes.

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Photo: Michael Dibb / Geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0

schemes explained on this page
11schemes explained on this page
of planting costs through Trees for Climate
Up to 100%of planting costs through Trees for Climate
a year for deer control through CWS1
£105/haa year for deer control through CWS1
for our deer survey
£0for our deer survey

Find your grant

Which grant fits what you're doing?

Pick the one that sounds most like you, and the schemes that fit move to the front.

All 11 schemes. Pick what you're doing above to narrow it down.

A wire deer fence on wooden posts crossing rough upland grassland, with a dense conifer plantation on the hillside behindCapital + 15 yrs maintenance

Planting and restocking

EWCO

£10,200/ha

for planting and protection, with deer fencing at £10.27/m

Funds new woodland creation: planting, ground preparation, and protection, including deer fencing as a priced line item. The fencing rate only gets approved at the right level if the application shows the actual deer pressure on site, not a generic assumption.

Read the guide →gov.uk
A flat arable field of young leafy crop with a small copse of pine trees beyond, under a broken cloudy skyOpen all year

Planning and plans

WCPG

Up to £30,500

to design a new woodland before you plant

Funds the planning stage before EWCO, not the planting itself. A deer impact assessment can be funded as a specialist study within Stage 1, meaning the evidence that shapes a later EWCO application doesn't have to come out of your own pocket.

Read the guide →gov.uk
Sheep grazing in parkland among mature trees, with young trees protected by square wooden cage guardsAnnual payments

Farm and landscape schemes

Agroforestry

£248–£849/ha/yr

for keeping trees on farmed or grazed land

An ongoing per-hectare payment for maintaining trees at a set density on farmed land, whether that's arable (silvoarable) or grazed (silvopastoral). It's a maintenance payment, not capital funding, so establishing and protecting the trees is a separate cost.

Read the guide →gov.uk
A site map with woodland blocks outlined in red and blue pen, clipped to a clipboard on a pickup tailgate beside binoculars and a thermal monocular, with a misty field and woodland edge behindOne-off payment

Planning and plans

PA7

£204.79

per species type for a deer management plan

Pays for writing a deer species management plan before any control work is committed to: an assessment of the impact deer are having, the control and monitoring methods you'd use, and a map of where. It's the planning stage only, and the approved plan is what unlocks CWS1.

Read the guide →gov.uk
Trail camera photo of a roe deer walking through grass beside a new woodland planting in spring, with rows of young trees in tree guards and mature woodland behindAnnual payments

Deer control and equipment

CWS1

£105/ha/yr

for ten years of deer control and monitoring

An annual payment for the deer control work itself: monitoring exclosures, culling against an agreed plan, and habitat impact assessments to check it's working. It's a 10-year commitment, and it needs an approved species management plan, the kind PA7 funds, before you can apply.

Read the guide →gov.uk
A wooden deer high seat built against a tree at the edge of a field, with woodland beyondOpen all year

Deer control and equipment

Higher Tier Capital Grants

£10.27/m

for deer fencing, plus £265 per high seat

Standalone capital grants for the physical side of deer management: deer fencing, gates, exclosure plots, high seats, and deer management training. Open all year, with no full Higher Tier agreement needed, but deer items need Forestry Commission or Natural England support before you apply.

Read the guide →gov.uk
Sunlit broadleaved woodland with open ground beneath the trees and green undergrowthOne-off payment

Planning and plans

PA3

£1,500+

for a woodland management plan, from 0.5ha

Pays for a woodland management plan that meets the UK Forestry Standard. For 2026 the minimum woodland size dropped from 3 hectares to 0.5, and an approved plan is the starting point for most other woodland funding, including Higher Tier woodland actions.

Read the guide →gov.uk
Felled tree trunks lying on frosty ground below a wooded valley side cleared because of ash diebackOpen all year

Planting and restocking

Woodland Tree Health

Up to £6,000/ha

to restock woodland felled for tree disease

Helps pay to restock woodland felled because of tree disease, including ash dieback, Phytophthora on larch and sweet chestnut, and sweet chestnut blight. Deer fencing, tree shelters, and exclosure plots are all items within it, which matters because restocked ground is where deer do the most damage.

Read the guide →gov.uk
Rows of young trees in white tree tubes across a newly planted field, with farmland and trees in the distanceYorkshire & N. Lincs

Planting and restocking

Trees for Climate

Up to 100%

of tree and hedge planting costs

Delivered by the White Rose Forest (North and West Yorkshire) and Humber Forest (Hull, East Yorkshire, and North Lincolnshire), it can cover up to 100% of tree and hedge planting costs, including design, fencing, and years of maintenance.

Read the guide →Official guidance
Sheep grazing upland pasture behind a drystone wall and post-and-wire fence, with hills under a cloudy skyRuns to March 2029

Farm and landscape schemes

FiPL

Set locally

for farm projects in National Parks and National Landscapes

Farming in Protected Landscapes funds farm projects inside National Parks and National Landscapes, including the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Nidderdale, Howardian Hills, Forest of Bowland, North Pennines, and Peak District. It runs to March 2029 and is decided locally.

Read the guide →gov.uk
A newly planted hedge protected by a line of tree guards along a field edge, beside a post-and-wire fenceWoodland Trust

Planting and restocking

MOREwoods & MOREhedges

Up to 75%

of the cost of a new wood or hedge

The Woodland Trust's own schemes for new woodland (500+ trees on 0.5ha or more) and new hedges (100m or more, with a tree every six metres). They supply trees and protection and cover up to 75% of the cost.

Read the guide →Official guidance

What could I get?

A rough idea of the money involved

Put in your own numbers to see what the published rates would come to.

Roughly, around new planting or a block you want to protect.

metres

The total area of woodland on the holding.

hectares

A rough guide from published rates, not a quote. Each scheme has its own eligibility rules: CWS1 needs deer to be harming priority habitat (or non-native deer to be present), fencing needs Forestry Commission or Natural England support, and the same fence can't be funded twice. Confirm everything on gov.uk before you rely on it.

How they fit together

Two routes through the schemes

Managing existing woodland

Each step produces the document the next one asks for.

  1. 1. PA3Woodland management planRead the guide →
  2. 2. PA7Deer species management planRead the guide →
  3. 3. CapitalFencing, high seats, exclosuresRead the guide →
  4. 4. CWS1Annual deer control paymentsRead the guide →

Planting something new

Plan it properly, then fund the planting and protection.

  1. 1. WCPGDesign the new woodlandRead the guide →
  2. 2. EWCOPlant and protect itRead the guide →

Or In North, West, and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, Trees for Climate can fund both steps, covering up to 100% of the costs.

When to apply

The grant year at a glance

Only the dates that stay the same year to year. One-off application windows come and go, so always check gov.uk for those.

JFMAMJJASOND
Planting season

Bare-root trees and hedging go in through the winter, roughly November to March

EWCO cut-off

Apply by 31 May to catch the next planting season

Open all year

WCPG, Higher Tier Capital Grants, and Woodland Tree Health grants take applications year-round

Compare them all

All eleven schemes side by side

The full picture in one table. For the reasoning behind the order, read how the woodland and deer grants fit together.

SchemeWhat it paysBest forRead more
Planning and plans
WCPG£1,500 (Stage 1), £150/ha minus Stage 1 (Stage 2), capped at £30,500Planning before you plantFull guide →
PA7£204.79 per species type, up to £1,023.95 per planPlanning deer control before committing to itFull guide →
PA3£1,500 for 0.5–50ha, plus £30/ha from 51–100ha, £3,000 plus £15/ha above 100haGetting existing woodland into a planFull guide →
Planting and restocking
EWCOUp to £10,200/ha capital costs, up to £12,700/ha more for public benefit, deer fencing at £10.27/mNew woodland creationFull guide →
Woodland Tree HealthRestocking capped at £3,000–£6,000/ha, incl. deer fencing £10.27/m and tree shelters £2.43Restocking after disease fellingFull guide →
Trees for ClimateUp to 100% of planting costs, plus years of establishment and maintenanceNew planting in Yorkshire and North LincolnshireFull guide →
MOREwoods & MOREhedgesUp to 75% of costs, trees and protection suppliedSmaller woods and hedgesFull guide →
Deer control and equipment
CWS1£105/ha/year for 10 yearsFunding ongoing deer controlFull guide →
Higher Tier Capital GrantsDeer fencing £10.27/m, high seat £265 (+£180 if free-standing), exclosure plot £212.56, deer gates £475–£750, training up to 100%Fencing, high seats, and deer equipmentFull guide →
Farm and landscape schemes
Agroforestry£248–£849/ha/year by tree density, £1,268 one-off planning paymentTrees on farmed or grazed landFull guide →
FiPLProject grants, set by each protected landscapeFarms in National Parks and National LandscapesFull guide →

Figures checked against gov.uk and the scheme bodies, September and October 2026. Always confirm current rates before applying, as these get revised during the year.

How to apply

The application process, step by step

We recommend working with a land agent or forestry consultant on any application. We don't manage grant applications ourselves.

EWCO: how to apply
  1. Register on the Rural Payments service and get a Customer Registration Number
  2. Contact your regional Woodland Officer early for guidance
  3. Check with your Local Environment Record Centre and Historic Environment Record for site constraints
  4. Confirm your tree stock meets the Plant Health Management Standard
  5. Submit your application, declaration, woodland plan, and site map, by 31 May to catch the next planting season
  6. Forestry Commission reviews your submission, usually within about 3 weeks
  7. A Woodland Officer visits the site, which is where a fencing spec backed by real evidence matters most
  8. Your application is scored against others competing in the same funding round
  9. If approved: a formal agreement is issued, with 3 years to complete the work
  10. Submit claims as work completes (£5,000 minimum per claim), with payment following verification

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

WCPG: how to apply
  1. Confirm you have 5ha+ of woodland creation in total, in blocks of 0.5ha+ and 20m+ wide
  2. Submit your initial application, rolling with no fixed deadline
  3. Forestry Commission responds, usually within about 20 working days
  4. Signed Stage 1 agreement issued, £1,500 paid for the desk-based assessment
  5. A deer impact assessment can be funded here as a specialist study, if flagged as needed
  6. Forestry Commission decides whether the site is worth taking to design stage
  7. Stage 2 offer issued: £150/ha, minus the £1,500 already paid
  8. Detailed design work: site appraisal, concept plan, UKFS-compliant woodland design
  9. Design approved, plus an EIA regulatory decision for applications since December 2024
  10. Approved plan carried forward into an EWCO application

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

Agroforestry: how to apply
  1. Get an agroforestry plan approved by the Forestry Commission first
  2. Plant the trees, since Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier requires this before you can apply, unlike EWCO or WCPG
  3. Submit an online Expression of Interest for the site or agreement
  4. Wait to be invited to the pre-application stage, since an Expression of Interest doesn't guarantee an agreement
  5. Complete the full application, referencing your approved plan
  6. Agreement offered, annual density-based payments begin
  7. Simpler alternative: SFI's AGF1/AGF2 route skips the approved-plan requirement, with a lower payment ceiling

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

PA7: how to apply
  1. Register on the Rural Payments service and get a Customer Registration Number
  2. Check you don't already hold a management plan for deer, since PA7 can't fund a second one
  3. Apply for a Capital Grants Plans agreement, and wait until it's in place before writing the plan
  4. Complete the Forestry Commission's deer species management plan template: impact assessment, control and monitoring methods, and a map of where control will happen
  5. Submit the completed plan to the Forestry Commission for approval
  6. Once approved, claim the payment, then use the plan as the basis for a CWS1 application if you're going further

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

CWS1: how to apply
  1. Confirm native deer are harming priority habitats or species on the land, or that invasive non-native deer (muntjac, sika, or Chinese water deer) are present
  2. Get a species management plan agreed with the Forestry Commission, and with Natural England if non-woodland habitats are included. PA7 can fund this
  3. Pair CWS1 with a habitat creation or management action on the same land, or get approval from your Natural England adviser or Forestry Commission woodland officer
  4. Apply through Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier: submit an Expression of Interest and wait to be invited to apply
  5. Year 1: put up the agreed number of deer monitoring exclosures and complete the first habitat impact assessment
  6. Carry out the level of culling set out in your species management plan through the agreement
  7. Repeat the habitat impact assessments in years 5 and 10

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

Higher Tier Capital Grants: how to apply
  1. Decide which capital items you need, and check each item's requirements on gov.uk
  2. Contact your local Forestry Commission area office (woodland or agroforestry) or Natural England (wood pasture) for support before applying, since every deer item needs it
  3. For a high seat, have an approved species management plan that identifies deer as a threat. PA7 can fund this
  4. For deer management training, check it's alongside CWS1 with Forestry Commission approval, and get at least 2 written quotations
  5. Complete the Higher Tier Capital Grants application form and send it to the Rural Payments Agency by email or post
  6. Include an accountant's letter if your application is over £50,000
  7. Agreement issued: 3 years to complete the work
  8. Claim with photographs, receipted invoices or bank statements, and your Forestry Commission management plan approval letter

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

PA3: how to apply
  1. Check you have at least 0.5ha of eligible woodland on the holding (no more than 20% newly planted)
  2. Talk to your local Forestry Commission woodland officer before you start
  3. Apply online through the Rural Payments service, or by email or post
  4. Write the plan to the UK Forestry Standard, including how deer are affecting the woodland if they're a threat
  5. Submit the plan to the Forestry Commission for approval
  6. Once approved, claim the payment and use the plan as the basis for further woodland grants

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

Woodland Tree Health: how to apply
  1. Confirm the disease with a Statutory Plant Health Notice or Forestry Commission confirmation
  2. Get a felling licence where one applies
  3. Check the woodland block is at least 0.1ha and the work comes to at least £500
  4. Complete the WTH application form with annotated maps and any consents
  5. Send it to the Rural Payments Agency by email or post
  6. A Forestry Commission woodland officer assesses the site
  7. Agreement issued: 3 years to complete the work, with management control needed for 5 years

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

Trees for Climate: how to apply
  1. Check your land is in a covered area: North or West Yorkshire (White Rose Forest), or Hull, East Yorkshire, or North Lincolnshire (Humber Forest)
  2. Contact your community forest team: through whiteroseforest.org, or humber.forest@eastriding.gov.uk
  3. Site visit and design work, including surveys and the right protection for the deer present
  4. Funding agreement covering planting, protection, and establishment
  5. Planting during the winter season, roughly November to March
  6. Maintenance and establishment support in the years that follow

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on the Northern Forest before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

FiPL: how to apply
  1. Check whether your land is inside a National Park or National Landscape
  2. Contact that protected landscape's FiPL officer to talk the project through
  3. Shape the project around at least one theme: climate, nature, people, or place, and the local priorities
  4. Apply through the local team's process
  5. Check it isn't funding the same work as another scheme, such as Higher Tier Capital Grants

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on gov.uk before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

MOREwoods & MOREhedges: how to apply
  1. Check the size thresholds: 500+ trees on at least 0.5ha for MOREwoods, or 100m+ of new hedge for MOREhedges
  2. Apply to the Woodland Trust while the application window is open
  3. For MOREwoods, the Trust visits, helps design the woodland, and agrees a species mix
  4. Trees and protection are supplied, with up to 75% of the cost covered
  5. Check the protection supplied suits the deer on your land before planting

This is the general shape of the process, not a substitute for the live guidance, which gets revised from time to time. Check the official guidance on the Woodland Trust before applying, and speak to your land agent or forestry consultant, who can handle the application for you.

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How we help

Every one of these grants asks the same question: what are deer actually doing on your land?

We don't fill in or submit applications. What we provide is an on-the-ground picture that makes one stronger: which deer are on the land, how many, and what they're doing to it. Our deer survey is free for landowners and farmers across North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, East Lancashire, South Durham, Teesside.

Have Us Take a LookAsk a Question

Or call Chris on 07397 942663. He'll call you back the same day.

FAQ

Common questions

Sometimes, but not always on the same land or the same work. WCPG can't be used if you've already applied for EWCO on the same site, and Higher Tier Capital Grants can't be combined with EWCO or FiPL. Some schemes are designed to run in order: PA3 gives you the woodland management plan most woodland grants ask for, and the species management plan PA7 pays for is what you need before applying for CWS1. The guide linked at the top of this page sets out the full sequence.

EWCO, Higher Tier Capital Grants, and Woodland Tree Health grants all pay £10.27 per metre for deer fencing, and Trees for Climate can fund fencing as part of a planting project. WCPG and PA3 fund planning, Agroforestry's per-hectare payment is for maintenance, and PA7 and CWS1 fund deer planning and control rather than fencing.

It's not always mandatory, but an application with real evidence behind the fencing spec or protection plan tends to hold up better than one built on assumption.

No. We provide the survey; the application itself is something you or your agent submits.

Rates and caps were checked against gov.uk and the scheme bodies in September and October 2026, and they get revised periodically. Always confirm the current figure before relying on it for a live application.

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