Trees for Climate: Year 2 - Woodland Planting and Maintenance at Various Sites

On 11 March 2020, the government announced the creation of a £640m "Nature for Climate" Programme. This funding is to support nature-based solutions such as woodland creation and peatland restoration, as part of an array of actions needed to reach the UK government target of net zero carbon by 2050.

As part of the Nature for Climate programme, the England's Community Forests (ECF) network, led by The Mersey Forest and supported by the Community Forest Trust, has been tasked by DEFRA with putting together a 6,000+ hectare programme of new woodland creation, called 'Trees for Climate' (T4C), to be delivered over the period 2020 to 2025.

Greenwood Community Forest, part of Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) will lead on the T4C programme in Nottinghamshire. As part of the indicative pipeline of projects for the programme, Greenwood has indicated that it would be able to facilitate the establishment of 250ha of new woodland, with both direct delivery of schemes and working through partner organisations.

For Year 2 (2021/22) of T4C, Greenwood is intending on planting 3 sites, two owned by Nottinghamshire County Council and one owned by Newark and Sherwood District Council of which is the subject of this tender and is shown in Appendix 1 - Year 2 T4C Planting Site 1:

The Site is former colliery pit tip, restored to a mix of woodland and low-grade agricultural grassland. The planting scheme will take place on the grassland areas, which are undulating in topography with some steep slopes, vehicle wheeling ruts and poorly drained areas. It should be noted the Site suffers from unauthorised off-road usage (4x4s and trail bikes).

The scheme has been designed to comply with the UK Forestry Standard, and to deliver native broad-leaved woodland and various associated outputs including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, water quality and public access.

In order to maximise the chances of being able to undertake the planting work this planting season, we are now seeking to appoint a Planting Contractor with the relevant skills and experience, and the ability to deliver within the specified timeframe.