UK Forest Creation, Woodland Carbon Code

Project highlight: Trossachs Highland Afforestation, UK

The UK is one of the least forested countries in Europe at 12% forest cover. The Scottish Highlands are considered an Endangered Landscape, one of eight in all of Europe, according to the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. In Scotland, less than 1% of the once-vast, old growth, Caledonian Forest remains.

The project has planted three new woods in the peatland east of the Trossachs National Park in Scotland, using a mix of conifer and deciduous trees in a natural planting scheme rather than a linear matrix. These commercial pine woodlands are almost 200 hectares of forest for sustainable harvesting and replanting.

The 500,000 new trees include: 20,000 native broadleaves, 87,000 Norway spruce, 36,000 Scots pine, 340,000 Sitka spruce and 2,000 Noble fir. Linking existing forests creates wildlife corridors, diverse feeding areas and shelter belts for rare and endangered species such as eagles, Scottish wildcats, pine martens, red squirrels, dunlin, golden plovers, and many more.

About the WCC:

Woodlands once covered the landscape across the UK, yet today the country is one of the least forested in Europe.

The Woodland Carbon Code (WCC) is the only voluntary standard of its kind, meeting the UK Government’s Forest Standard. This portfolio of carefully selected WCC forest creation projects are vetted by our team of voluntary carbon market veterans to construct a pool of high-quality UK projects. 

After a project is registered with the WCC, it undergoes validation by a third party accredited by the UK Accreditation Service. Pending Issuance Units are created as part of this validation process, based on estimated tree growth and carbon removals. These are automatically converted into Woodland Carbon Units once the trees have grown and delivered the carbon removals. Pending Issuance Units do not represent guaranteed reductions and cannot be used to report against UK-based emissions until verified and converted to Woodland Carbon Units. 

UK forest creation projects are co-funded with Forestry Commission grant aid which is insufficient to incentivise landowners to plant - hence the need for additional carbon funding to make the projects happen. The Forestry Commission guarantees a standard minimum level quality in the areas of woodland management and environmental impact assessment, plus an inspection regime after planting and once the forest is five years old, ensuring a legacy of social and biodiversity benefits.

In addition to delivering emissions removals to take climate action (SDG 13), the project delivers additional benefits:

• Decent Work and Economic Growth: Increases annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person and reduces unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities.

• Life on Land: Forests provide habitat for biodiversity, restore degraded landscapes, and protect the UK’s natural heritage.