AQW 18086/17-22 Written question to the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for an update on the £4 Million Small Woodland Grant Scheme.
Asked by Stewart Dickson MLA on 28 April 2021
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 28 April 2021
- Answer due by
- 14 May 2021
- Answered
- 2 June 202135 days after tabling
- Priority question
- No
Answer
I launched the Small Woodland Grant Scheme in December 2020 to encourage new native woodlands of 0.2 hectares and larger. The first period for receipt of applications closed at the end of February with 368 applications having been submitted. A total of 314 hectares were approved by the Department and it is anticipated that around 150 hectares of this will be planted and claimed by landowners in 2021.
The Small Woodland Grant Scheme and Forest Expansion Scheme will reopen in summer this year to support new planting projects in the winter of 2021/22 to be claimed in 2022.