The role that woodlands can play in helping us reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 has been widely recognised.

Scottish Government has already revised annual planting targets from 12,000 to 18,000 hectares per year by 2024-25 with increased grant funding to help with this.

With other sectors also looking at ways to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions, we are likely to see more development of carbon markets; new, considered woodland creation presents an obvious opportunity for farmers and land managers.  As trees grow, they capture and securely store carbon that would otherwise be in the atmosphere. As a very rough guide, around one quarter of a tree is solid stored carbon. Note this varies greatly between species, where and how they grow, and what age they are.

In the right place, new on-farm woodland planting ticks not only the carbon box, but also brings other benefits, such as biodiversity or creation of shelterbelts, aiding livestock production efficiency.

To read more about opportunities around woodland planting on your farm, including an overview of the Woodland Carbon Code, see the FAS pages here