The Forestry Commission has published a case study on Brook Farm in Herefordshire, where FW Thorpe PLC is supporting a new 146‑acre mixed woodland as part of its carbon strategy. The site, around 59 hectares, will see 124,400 trees established and is designed to provide public access, contribute to flood mitigation, supply future timber and support nature recovery. On planting numbers alone, this equates to roughly 2,100 trees per hectare, indicating a high‑density establishment phase suited to later selective management.
Funding is through the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO), which provides capital support subject to a standard‑cost cap averaging £10,200 per hectare across the application area, alongside optional annual maintenance payments of £400 per hectare for 15 years. Planting and subsequent management must conform to the UK Forestry Standard. The Forestry Commission refreshed EWCO guidance on 23 October 2025 to improve clarity, and has reiterated that EWCO will be phased into Environmental Land Management with no gap in woodland‑creation support.
Projects can apply for one‑off ‘additional contributions’ where location and design deliver public benefits. Current rates include up to £3,300 per hectare for nature recovery, £1,000 per hectare for flood risk management, £500 per hectare for water quality, £2,500 per hectare for riparian buffers, up to £600 per hectare for woodlands close to settlements, and up to £3,700 per hectare for recreational access. A separate £1,100 per hectare payment is available where proposals fall entirely in mapped low‑sensitivity areas, which may also be assessed under the Woodland Creation Fast Track route.
For businesses aiming to compensate residual UK‑based emissions, the Woodland Carbon Code (WCC) sets the quality‑assurance standard. Two unit types are central: Pending Issuance Units (PIUs), which are forward‑looking and cannot be used for reporting, and Woodland Carbon Units (WCUs), which represent verified removals and can be used in UK reporting and net zero claims. The WCC operates UK‑wide and is administered by Scottish Forestry on behalf of the UK governments.
Claims must be accurate and evidenced. Under WCC rules, removals should only be reported after verification, meaning companies should use WCUs rather than PIUs when making formal claims. Verification typically occurs five years after establishment and at least every ten years thereafter, converting eligible PIUs to WCUs; recent guidance also sets out indicative verifier fee ranges.
Routes to engage are straightforward. Organisations can purchase WCUs for immediate UK claims or acquire PIUs to plan future compensation, buying directly via project developers, traders or through a registry account. Units must be retired on the UK Land Carbon Registry to avoid reuse. WCC also confirms important limits: units are not for compensating overseas emissions or those from international aviation or shipping, and they currently cannot be used in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.
Some woodland projects in England previously accessed price certainty through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee (WCaG), which offered index‑linked government purchase of WCUs every five or ten years up to 2055/56. The scheme is now closed to new applications; the eighth auction took place in September 2024. Buyers and landowners now primarily rely on the open market and private contracts for price discovery.
Corporate reporting should align with the UK government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines, including Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting requirements where applicable, and with WCC wording for carbon statements. In practice, that means disclosing reductions first, then using verified WCUs for any residual UK‑based emissions, with transparent registry retirements referenced in annual reports.
Delivery risk and integrity are addressed through both scheme rules and practical design. EWCO allows applicants to voluntarily reduce standard‑cost support to help demonstrate additionality where they intend to access ecosystem‑service markets, while WCC maintains a pooled buffer-funded by a contribution from each verified project-to safeguard buyers if verified credits are lost.
For policy teams and sustainability leads, Brook Farm illustrates a combined approach: use EWCO to de‑risk establishment while designing for wider benefits eligible for additional contributions, and use the Woodland Carbon Code to channel private finance and ensure credible corporate claims. With EWCO’s low‑sensitivity fast‑track available in suitable areas and a phased transition into Environmental Land Management, the pipeline for similar projects remains open; Brook Farm’s commitment to public access underlines the social value that can be built into corporate‑backed planting.