GovWire

What is the Call for Ideas?

The Call for Ideas is a new initiative from the Nature for Climate Fund (NCF). The NCF is a five-year fund designed to help deliver governments ambitious tree planting targets which has now reached its mid point.

In this Call for Ideas, we are inviting the owners of suitable sites to come forward with novel proposals that will result in a total of at least 100ha of new woodland planted on their land by 31 March 2025. Suitable land for this call is defined as land that is owned by either national or local government, or land owned by a third sector organisation.

This unique opportunity may not arise again. We are very keen to hear from you with ideas that the NCF programme is yet to discover (and therefore fund), that would align with the NCF objectives and enable tree planting on suitable land.

Who is eligible to submit a proposal?

This initiative is open to:

• national or local government (e.g. government departments, arms length bodies or Local Authorities)
• third sector organisations (such as a recognised charity, social enterprise, or other not-for-profit organisation)

Privately owned land or land in corporate ownership are not eligible.

How do I submit a proposal?

You will need to sign in to submit your proposal.

What is the deadline for proposals to be submitted?

The Call for Ideas will open on 30 March and close at 23.55pm on Friday 5 May 2023. Any proposals received after this date will not be considered.

What will I be asked?

We want you to tell us what support you need to enable this large-scale planting to take place before March 31 2025. We wish to understand how this additional support would remove any current barriers to planting.

At this stage we are only asking for a short Word document to be completed which answers a series of questions.

These include:

About You

• your organisation and its status (public, charity or other third sector)
• main contact details to include email and phone

About the land

• what is the status of the land you are proposing to plant? (e.g. in your ownership, under lease, to be acquired). What preparation work is needed in advance of planting
• what work have you already completed (such as public consultation or starting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)) to enable this planting to go ahead?
• what is the total area to be planted by March 31 2025?
• please provide information on the location/s
• hat will be the public benefits of this planting?

About the proposed planting

• please outline your objectives for the new planting and outline any work on design / species etc that has already been carried out
• who will carry out the planting?
• have you received any advice on this planting proposal? Please outline
• have you applied for any other NCF grant funds to deliver this planting?
• how will the planting be maintained and managed beyond 2025?
• what new public access / recreation opportunities will this proposed planting offer?

The current barriers and proposed solution

• please tell us about the barriers currently preventing the planting from taking place
• please describe how additional capital funding from DEFRA or Forestry Commission will enable planting to take place

Budget implications

• what additional resources do you require? Please break down your budget by financial year and also show capital and any revenue requirements separately? We expect any successful proposal to be almost entirely capital funding
• please identify any contribution that you or others will make to the cost of the proposal

Timescale

• what is your delivery timetable if additional support was forthcoming?

Applicants will also provide assurance that the planting will be maintained and managed into the future and provide maximum opportunities for public benefit.

We welcome additional information to the proposal if this is relevant. Examples might include site maps or / photos. etc.

How will proposals be assessed?

We are hopeful that this call will bring forward a small number of exciting proposals enabling planting at scale. All eligible proposals will be assessed by a panel using criteria designed to test the likelihood of planting delivery within this tight deadline. To avoid duplication, we will not consider proposals that could be funded by existing NCF grants and incentives. We would expect any successful proposals to be largely capital (capital departmental expenditure limits - CDEL) based. A small allowance for enabling revenue costs (revenue departmental expenditure limits - RDEL) would be considered.

Recommendations from the assessment panel will be taken to the June NCF Programme Board for due consideration. If suitable new ideas are forthcoming, and approved by the Board, we will then develop a business case and identify the appropriate route to market with DEFRA group Commercial.

For further information

Further information is available on the application page or by contacting the Forestry Commission at callforideas@forestrycommission.gov.uk and by attending the webinar:

Thursday 13 Apr 202310:00 - 11:00am

Book your place via Eventbrite

Disclaimer

DEFRA and the Forestry Commission reserves the right not to take forward any proposals for further consideration if no suitable ideas are forthcoming.