The Tree Health Pilot: How and why you should participate

Accessing support to improve the health of our treescapes...

This edition, Tree Talk welcomes a guest post by Defra’s Tree Health Policy Advisor, Joe Harrison. The Tree Council works closely with Defra on a wide variety of projects, from the Shared Outcomes Fund Trees Outside Woodland project, to the local authority focused Tree and Woodland Strategy Toolkit, as well as vital, ongoing work combatting tree pests and diseases.

Larch trees on Black Fell in the Lake District (Image by Phoebe Brown)

Sadly, the risk of our trees being affected by tree pests and diseases is increasing. Tree owners can often find themselves with diseased trees for reasons entirely out of their control. 

Delivered by the Forestry Commission, the Defra-funded Tree Health Pilot scheme is testing new grants and ways of providing advice to owners and managers of trees to help slow the spread of tree pests and diseases, as well as building the resilience of trees across England.  

The pilot began in August 2021. What we learn from the pilot will inform the design of the future Tree Health Scheme. This will be rolled out nationally through our environmental land management schemes when the pilot ends. 

In this edition of Tree Talk, I’d like to share a short summary of the pilot and the improvements we’ve made to the scheme.

It’s not too late for you to take part, so I’ll also include details of how you can get involved.  

Larch trees that have died due to Phytophthora ramorum (Image by Joe Harrison)

A brief summary of the Tree Health Pilot

The Tree Health Pilot provides vital support to landowners dealing with tree pests and diseases.

Specifically there are grants available for owners or managers of trees in the North West, West Midlands, London and the South East who have one of the following:

·        Larch with Phytophthora ramorum

·        Spruce affected by Ips typographus

·        Sweet Chestnut with Sweet Chestnut Blight or Phytophthora ramorum

·        Ash with ash dieback along roads or public footpaths

·        Oak with Oak Processionary Moth (in OPM established area)

Each of these eligible tree/woodland types has a suite of new grants available, used to help cover the costs of activities such as felling and removing affected trees, building infrastructure to support felling and future management of woodlands, hiring or purchasing items used for improving biosecurity and also to restock areas with new trees where they have been removed due to pests and diseases.

There are also grants available for pest/disease specific activities such as road closures and European Protected Species Surveys for ash trees with ash dieback, biosecurity item grants for those tackling OPM and a clearance grant for rhododendron with Phytophthora ramorum in larch woodland.

For a full list of what grants are available in the Tree Health Pilot please visit Defra’s Tree Health Pilot website.

Spruce woodland in South East England being felled due to Spruce Bark Beetle infestation (Image by Joe Harrison)

The aim of the Tree Health Pilot

The Pilot was launched to address the challenges faced by tree and woodland managers in managing pests and diseases. It aims to provide better grant support and resources to land managers who are safeguarding England's trees and woodlands by testing new grants, advice, and guidance for tree health issues.

Working with Forest Research, insights from surveys and workshops shaped the initial design of the Pilot, emphasising the importance of advice, awareness, and training.

We set out to design a series of new grants and advice provision that would greatly increase the diversity of support available outside of existing grants. This support is aimed at areas that have traditionally gone unsupported, such as for trees outside of woodland and for groups of land managers looking to deal with pests and diseases collaboratively.

With this in mind, the overall aim of the Pilot is to thoroughly test all of these new packages of support, working with Pilot participants to understand what is working and what we can do to improve, ahead of a national roll out when the Pilot ends.

This means everyone who is successful in applying to the Pilot has a unique opportunity to provide direct feedback on government policies and help shape the future of England’s grant support for tree pests and diseases.

We’ve listened and made changes

Over the past year, the Tree Health Pilot has already undergone significant changes based on the testing and feedback we have received.  

In January the payments process was streamlined, eliminating the need for multiple quotes and enabling faster payments for incurred costs. A new advice package was introduced to enhance land managers' knowledge and awareness of tree health issues and biosecurity. As well, the amount paid for capital items such as tree guards and deer fencing has increased in line with other tree planting grants.

A remote larch tree in the Lake District infected with Phytophthora ramorum. It has been ringbarked and chemically treated (Image by Phoebe Brown)

In May, after a series of workshops and research conducted in partnership with local authorities, The Tree Council, and Forest Research, we updated our ash grants for groups. We published improved guidance, simplified the application process, and expanded the eligibility criteria to include lower tier local authorities as eligible group members. The restocking eligibility has also been widened to include local authorities acting as a facilitator.

We will continue to make these changes and adjustments throughout the lifetime of the Pilot, ensuring that we achieve our vision for a successful national Tree Health grant scheme when the Pilot ends.

Get involved and be part of the Tree Health Pilot

If you own or manage trees with any of the pest or diseases listed above and are located in one of the eligible areas, the please do get in contact with us by submitting an Expression of Interest form.

For full details on eligibility, what grant support is available and the application process then please take a look at the guidance provided on our website.

Otherwise I look forward to hearing more from you in the comments below!

Joe Harrison is a Tree Health Policy Advisor at Defra. To find out more about the Tree Health Pilot, please visit www.gov.uk/government/publications/tree-health-pilot-scheme-2023

Further reading

There are brilliant resources available for further reading into all the pests and diseases which the Tree Health Pilot provides support for.

Oak with Oak Processionary Moth

Defra’s webpage, OPM Toolkit available on The Tree Council website or the OPM Resource Hub, as well as lots of information hosted by Forest Research.

Spruce with Ips typographus

Defra’s webpage and further information available on Forest Research’s website

Ash with ash dieback

Defra’s webpage, The Tree Council’s guide for owners of ash trees with ash dieback, LEAF’s new farmers guide to ash dieback or further reading on the impact of ash dieback on Forest Research’s website.

Larch with Phytophthora Ramorum

Forest Research’s website has detailed information on the disease.

Sweet Chestnut with Phytophthora Ramorum or Sweet chestnut blight

Forest Research has detailed information on Sweet Chestnut affected by Phytophthora ramorum here and Sweet Chestnut Blight here

MORE: Pest intentions: Managing Oak Processionary Moth in the UK