21/07/2026
🚜 Pls share with FARMER friends and OTHER LAND MANAGERS – FUNDING, HELP and HELPFUL RESOURCES for resilient & nature-friendly land management
💚💚💚 FUNDING & HELP …
🟢 Want to diversify income, get a return on less productive areas or increase the wildlife on your land? Yorkshire Wildlife Trust can help with a Biodiversity Net Gain survey. https://www.ywt.org.uk/biodiversity-net-gain-bng
🦎 Fully-funded pond creation / restoration scheme https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/great-crested-newts-district-level-licensing-schemes-for-developers/landowners-hosting-a-pond-as-part-of-the-great-crested-newt-district-level-licensing-scheme For City of York and some areas in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire see https://www.ywt.org.uk/news/fully-funded-wildlife-ponds-available-farmers-and-landowners Also, worth checking if you have a Priority Pond in need of restoration as funding may follow. https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/our-work/conservation-and-practical-delivery/habitat-protection/priority-ponds/
🌼 For species-rich grassland restoration, a toolkit for supporting farmers to access funding. https://www.plantlife.org.uk/our-work/supporting-farmers-to-access-funding-for-grassland-restoration/
💧 On funding for floodplain meadows https://floodplainmeadows.org.uk/index.php/advice/funding
🌳 Network Rail Community Tree Planting Fund; grants of £2,500-£10,000. ⏰ Round 1 application deadline 19th July (poss 2nd round if funds remain). https://treecouncil.org.uk/grants-and-guidance/our-grants/network-rail-community-tree-planting-fund/
🌳 Trees for Climate; up to 100% funding inc up to 15 yrs maintenance https://englandscommunityforests.org.uk/landowners/ This links with https://thenorthernforest.org.uk/get-involved - North and West Yorkshire are funded as part of White Rose Forest (eg.https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/region/hedgerows-at-the-heart-of-regeneration/ “Funding from the White Rose Forest has covered the majority of the project’s infrastructure and planting costs, including 10,000 metres of fencing and gates.”) https://whiteroseforest.org/get-involved/plant-trees-on-your-land/
🌳 Woodland Trust Agroforestry Projects; up to 100% funding for trees and protection and help to design if 500 trees or more. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/trees-for-landowners-and-farmers/
🌳 Woodland Trust Trial Packs; packs of 50 trees, up to 3 packs free inc protection – a simple, low commitment arrangement with 6 pack combinations inc Wet Roots Pack for flood prone areas. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/trees-for-landowners-and-farmers/morewoods-trial-packs/
🌳 MOREwoods – up to 75% costs for small-scale new native woodland https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/trees-for-landowners-and-farmers/morewoods/ inc for planting alongside watercourses https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/river-woodland/
🌳 MOREhedges – up to 75% costs for over 100 metres of new hedging. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/trees-for-landowners-and-farmers/morehedges/
🌳 The Woodland Trust also offers subsidised packs of young trees https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/subsidised-packs
🌳 Help on offer for landowners/farmers looking to adopt nature-friendly hedgerow management practises https://www.hedgerowdefenders.com
🌳 Woodland Carbon – get paid for planting more than 5 hectares of new woodland. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/woodland-carbon-farmers-and-landowners/
🌳 For land that is publicly accessible, ITF Community Tree Planting Grants (if used for a social purpose or with permissive access/rights of way); funding for woodlands and hedging, 100-10,000 trees/yr with a max price £2.15/tree plus maintenance grants of 10p/tree for the first 2 years. Open to applications until end of Sept https://www.internationaltreefoundation.org/uk-grants and I Dig Trees (if used for community purposes); packs of 50 free trees comprising different combinations. https://www.tcv.org.uk/i-dig-trees-free-trees/
🌳 Landowners who are charities could consider the Trees Outside Woodland Fund (up to £40,000, open until 31st Oct or until all allocated) https://treecouncil.org.uk/grants-and-guidance/our-grants/trees-outside-woodland-fund/ and Branching Out Fund (£250-£2,500, deadline 19th July) https://treecouncil.org.uk/grants-and-guidance/our-grants/branching-out-fund/
🌳 Landowners in Scotland see also https://treecouncil.org.uk/grants-and-guidance/our-grants/spen-community-tree-planting-fund/
🌳Worth keeping an eye on additional funding opportunities at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-farmers , https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms , https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/trees-for-landowners-and-farmers/ and https://treecouncil.org.uk/grants-and-guidance/our-grants/
🌿 The Soil Association supports all farmers interested in regenerative practises https://www.soilassociation.org/for-business/farmers-growers/ and their support includes free Exchange Explore as a stepping stone towards improving sustainability and accessing further funding. https://www.soilassociationexchange.com/for-farmers
🌿 The Royal Countryside Fund’s support includes training (eg water management) and Farm Support Groups. https://www.royalcountrysidefund.org.uk/how-we-help/on-your-farm/
🌿 On support available from the Wildlife Trusts https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/about-us/what-we-do/our-work-land/nature-friendly-farming
🌿 Some areas are covered by CPRE’s Hedgerow Heroes project aimed at planting and rejuvenating hedgerows. https://www.cpre.org.uk/news/hedgerow-heroes-phase-five-13-local-cpres-join-the-mission/
💚💚💚 ECO ISSUES to consider when planning …
📝 Best to consider a planting proposal in the context of your council’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Also, to check if a Trees & Woodland Strategy has been developed for your area see https://treecouncil.org.uk/science-and-research/trees-and-woodland-strategy-toolkit/ . For York & North Yorkshire see https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/local-nature-recovery-strategy-documents , Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s blueprint for nature’s recovery ‘Bringing Yorkshire’s Nature Back’ https://www.ywt.org.uk/bringing-yorkshires-nature-back and the White Rose Forest Strategic Plan (2025-50)https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s184133/Appendix%201.%20WRF%20Strategic%20Plan%202025-50.pdf
📝 Research showing which parts of England would benefit most from new hedgerows inc the Vale of York. https://www.cpre.org.uk/news/the-north-would-benefit-most-from-new-hedgerows-our-research-reveals/ The UKCEH has mapped our hedgerow landscape and their data is available via a licence. https://www.ceh.ac.uk/press/high-tech-aerial-mapping-reveals-englands-hedgerow-landscape
📝 Research reveals need to plant successors for our trees within hedgerows. https://treetalk.substack.com/p/our-landscapes-could-be-transformed
📝 On improving connectivity so wildlife can find food, shelter and mates, it’s worth checking whether your planting project could contribute to a B-Line. https://www.buglife.org.uk/our-work/b-lines/
📝 English Oaks are our best native tree for biodiversity and we need to ensure we’re growing healthy successors. On the need for urgent action see the State of the UK’s Oaks 2026 report. https://www.actionoak.org/state-of-the-uks-oaks
📝 For food security, we need to ensure our wild bees (bumblebees and solitary bees) can thrive – to get off to a good start, they need early-flowering native blossom trees (cherry plum, blackthorn, wild cherry, crab apple) managed in a way that ensures at least some will blossom each spring.
💚💚💚 FREE GUIDANCE available …
ℹ️ On the benefits of agroforestry inc livestock shelter during heatwaves and soaking up after flash flooding in Farming for the Future report https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/agroforestry-benefits/ For a quick summary watch https://www.facebook.com/reel/1280214620729382 Nature-based solutions are key to Yorkshire's flood resilience https://www.york.gov.uk/news/article/1784/nature-based-solutions-highlighted-as-yorkshire-s-key-to-flood-resilience and the Bringing Yorkshire’s Nature Back report refers to farming with nature for climate resilience https://www.ywt.org.uk/bringing-yorkshires-nature-back
ℹ️ Trees on Farms guide to agroforestry in the UK inc routes to market for its products. https://treecouncil.org.uk/science-and-research/shared-outcomes-fund/agroforestry-guide/
ℹ️ Easy-to-compare species guides can help you choose trees based on factors such as shade cover, livestock fodder and climate resilience.https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/2024/11/READING-AGROFORESTY-Accessible.pdf
ℹ️ Advice for managing wildlife habitats on farms https://farmwildlife.info/how-to-do-it/ with local contacts https://farmwildlife.info/find-local-advice/ .
ℹ️ UKCEH’s free book Habitat Creation and Management for Pollinators https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/innovation/book-habitat-creation-and-management-pollinators
ℹ️ On the value of farm trees/hedges for butterflies https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/trees-and-hedges-on-farmland-significantly-boost-butterfly-numbers-study-finds
ℹ️ The Tree Council has a Guidance Hub on planting, growing and managing trees. https://treecouncil.org.uk/grants-and-guidance/guidance-hub/
ℹ️ PTES offers guidance https://ptes.org/hedgerow/ and a free app for managing healthy hedgerows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBPdbLvr0nI . Hedgelink has a Hedge Hub with a collection of resources (https://hedgelink.org.uk/hedge-hub/resource-database/).
ℹ️ The Soil Association playlists cover a variety of agricultural matters https://www.youtube.com//playlists inc agroforestry for pollinators https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYe_ZubapE&t=4s
ℹ️ Agricology provides an independent knowledge platform to support farmers/growers to transition to more sustainable and resilient farming systems. https://agricology.co.uk
ℹ️ On managing arable land for biodiversity https://www.plantlife.org.uk/managing-arable-land/
ℹ️ On the decline of farmland birds by 62% since 1970 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/wild-bird-populations-in-the-uk/wild-bird-populations-in-the-uk-and-england-1970-to-2024 -farmland-bird-populations-in-the-uk-and-england and on the breeding periods of hedgerow nesting birds https://www.bto.org/our-work/science/publications/reports/bto-research-reports/00762-breeding-periods-hedgerow-nesting-birds-england
ℹ️ On wood pasture and parkland https://ptes.org/campaigns/wood-pasture-parkland/what-is-wpp/
ℹ️ On orchards https://ptes.org/campaigns/traditional-orchard-project/ .
ℹ️ On land management for freshwaters inc natural flood management, and pond creation, restoration & management. https://waterfriendlyfarming.org.uk/resources/ On natural flood management across York and North Yorkshire see https://www.ousewem.co.uk On farming’s role in restoring our rivers at this year’s Groundswell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UGSWBESQlc
ℹ️ Advice on wildflower meadows, wildlife ponds, fruit trees, native hedges and native trees https://www.habitataid.co.uk/pages/help-advice
ℹ️ On managing floodplain meadows https://floodplainmeadows.org.uk/research
ℹ️ Advice on managing golf courses for the benefit of bumblebees https://www.bigga.org.uk/resource/managing-golf-courses-for-bumblebees-factsheet.html
💚💚💚 LIVED EXPERIENCE & NETWORKING
💬 On farmer experiences: Woodland Trust – farm profiles re More Woods, More Hedges funding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjqJkv3-_7I&list=PLbKmvYI09zixKCV7FLP16_lqE3iHMkEpT ; Agricology Farmer Profiles https://agricology.co.uk/farmer-profiles/; White Rose Forest eg.in Yorkshire Dales https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NF7M0R0WKQ
🫶 Nature Friendly Farming Network https://www.nffn.org.uk, Consensus on Food Farming & Nature https://www.foodfarmingnature.org , Innovative Farmers https://www.innovativefarmers.org , Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group https://www.fwag.org.uk/contact Regenerative Farmers of UK https://regenerativefarmersofuk.com and RSPB’s farmland bird survey network https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/helping-farmland-wildlife-the-special-partnership-making-a-difference
🗓️ Jan Oxford Real Farming Conference https://orfc.org.uk May Nature Friendly Farming Week https://www.nffn.org.uk June Groundswell Festival https://www.groundswellag.com June National Meadows Conference https://www.kew.org/wakehurst/whats-on/meadows-conference September Agroforestry Show https://www.agroforestryshow.com
💚💚💚 FILMS
📽️ Six Inches of Soil; a documentary featuring British farmers https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org
📽️ ‘Save Our Wild Isles - Hungry for Change’ https://www.saveourwildisles.org.uk/business/food-and-farming (featuring Hill Top Farm, Malham)
📽️ Derek v Derek https://www.derekvsderek.com/screenings
📽️ Groundswell – Official Trailer (2026) https://groundswellfilm.org
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🐝 For another list re funding and guidance for communities re trees/hedges/orchards/tree nurseries see https://www.facebook.com/DunningtonGIG/posts/pfbid027BF8qWk3jEdNPRByBqYT9g2pKksmNqwYzNugmXcYou5DggXqm5ossiN5qKzaVvN4l and re other nature-boosting projects see ’s post at https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=946765401386279&set
