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Thinking of planting woodland with EWCO and earning BNG income too? This article explains when stacking is allowed, what makes a woodland eligible for biodiversity units, and how to avoid double funding.
If you're planning to plant woodland and wondering whether you can also earn income from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), you're in good company. With woodland creation high on the agenda for both nature recovery and income diversification, many landowners are asking whether it’s possible to combine EWCO grants with the sale of biodiversity units.
And the answer? Yes—but only when the numbers, actions, and intentions all stack up.
The England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) was designed to support the upfront costs of establishing new woodland—covering everything from tree planting and fencing to public access and water protection. Meanwhile, BNG rewards landowners for creating high-quality habitats that improve biodiversity, with a legal commitment to manage them for 30 years.
On the surface, these goals overlap nicely. But Defra’s stacking rules make it clear: you can’t be paid twice for the same thing. To stack BNG income on top of EWCO support, you’ll need to demonstrate that the biodiversity units represent something extra—something that goes above and beyond what’s already being funded by the woodland grant.
That “extra” could take different forms. You might choose to plant a more diverse mix of native species than EWCO strictly requires. Or you might manage the woodland with a richer structure—allowing more understorey development, deadwood retention, and natural regeneration zones. Crucially, you'll also need to commit to managing the site for at least 30 years under a legally binding BNG agreement, whereas EWCO's maintenance requirements typically only last a decade.
This is where careful planning comes in. If your woodland creation plan was originally designed with EWCO in mind, it may not meet the standards or scoring thresholds needed to generate many biodiversity units. The statutory biodiversity metric is precise—it evaluates habitat type, condition, and distinctiveness. Simply planting trees isn’t always enough. The woodland has to perform ecologically, not just visually.
For landowners looking to stack EWCO and BNG successfully, it’s worth reviewing your woodland design in detail. Are you meeting a local biodiversity priority? Is your proposed habitat of high enough quality to register as a biodiversity gain site? And are you willing to take on the 30-year management and monitoring commitment that comes with BNG?
Of course, there are times when stacking won’t be the right fit. If your woodland plan is primarily for timber, game cover, or carbon, the biodiversity uplift may not be strong enough to warrant the additional effort of registering for BNG. In these cases, sticking with EWCO alone may make more financial and practical sense.
But where stacking works, it can deliver real value—both financially and ecologically. By aligning your woodland with the right ecological design and management strategy, you could access grant funding to get started, and biodiversity unit income to sustain long-term care.
At AskGrant, we help landowners explore these options with clarity. Whether you’re mid-way through an EWCO application or just starting to plan your planting, we can help you assess whether BNG is a viable add-on—and how to make the most of both schemes without falling foul of double funding rules.
Thinking of planting woodland with EWCO and earning BNG income too? This article explains when stacking is allowed, what makes a woodland eligible for biodiversity units, and how to avoid double funding.
If you're planning to plant woodland and wondering whether you can also earn income from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), you're in good company. With woodland creation high on the agenda for both nature recovery and income diversification, many landowners are asking whether it’s possible to combine EWCO grants with the sale of biodiversity units.
And the answer? Yes—but only when the numbers, actions, and intentions all stack up.
The England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) was designed to support the upfront costs of establishing new woodland—covering everything from tree planting and fencing to public access and water protection. Meanwhile, BNG rewards landowners for creating high-quality habitats that improve biodiversity, with a legal commitment to manage them for 30 years.
On the surface, these goals overlap nicely. But Defra’s stacking rules make it clear: you can’t be paid twice for the same thing. To stack BNG income on top of EWCO support, you’ll need to demonstrate that the biodiversity units represent something extra—something that goes above and beyond what’s already being funded by the woodland grant.
That “extra” could take different forms. You might choose to plant a more diverse mix of native species than EWCO strictly requires. Or you might manage the woodland with a richer structure—allowing more understorey development, deadwood retention, and natural regeneration zones. Crucially, you'll also need to commit to managing the site for at least 30 years under a legally binding BNG agreement, whereas EWCO's maintenance requirements typically only last a decade.
This is where careful planning comes in. If your woodland creation plan was originally designed with EWCO in mind, it may not meet the standards or scoring thresholds needed to generate many biodiversity units. The statutory biodiversity metric is precise—it evaluates habitat type, condition, and distinctiveness. Simply planting trees isn’t always enough. The woodland has to perform ecologically, not just visually.
For landowners looking to stack EWCO and BNG successfully, it’s worth reviewing your woodland design in detail. Are you meeting a local biodiversity priority? Is your proposed habitat of high enough quality to register as a biodiversity gain site? And are you willing to take on the 30-year management and monitoring commitment that comes with BNG?
Of course, there are times when stacking won’t be the right fit. If your woodland plan is primarily for timber, game cover, or carbon, the biodiversity uplift may not be strong enough to warrant the additional effort of registering for BNG. In these cases, sticking with EWCO alone may make more financial and practical sense.
But where stacking works, it can deliver real value—both financially and ecologically. By aligning your woodland with the right ecological design and management strategy, you could access grant funding to get started, and biodiversity unit income to sustain long-term care.
At AskGrant, we help landowners explore these options with clarity. Whether you’re mid-way through an EWCO application or just starting to plan your planting, we can help you assess whether BNG is a viable add-on—and how to make the most of both schemes without falling foul of double funding rules.
