Woodland owners have been given more time to claim grants for carrying out work after the coldest December on record brought operations to a standstill.
Freezing temperatures and heavy snow turned woodlands across Wales into icy no-go zones, prompting Forestry Commission Wales to act to ease the difficulties caused to the timber industry.
FC Wales has extended the deadline for private owners and agents to put in their grant claims for work carried out. It has been moved from 28 February to 18 March in an effort to help the many people in Wales who make a living from planting, felling and managing our woodlands.
Woodland management was plunged into the deep freeze in December, which was the coldest month in the UK since February 1986, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.
The mean December temperature for the UK was minus 1.0° C, well below the long term average of 4.2° C – but a low of minus 17° C in Powys during November meant that the county was officially colder than Greenland!
FC Wales Operations Manager Rachel Chamberlain said, “It has been another very challenging winter for those trying to carry out woodland operations in Wales, and we are pleased to be able to respond to the difficulties faced by woodland owners.
“Access to sites became impossible during the recent snowfalls and we hope that giving owners some extra time to complete work will ease the pressures they must be feeling.”
FC Wales offers grants to landowners in Wales who are interested in creating new woodland. More information can be found on the Forestry Commission Wales website at www.forestry.gov.uk/glastirwoodland.
Claim forms can be downloaded from the Grants and Regulations page on the Forestry Commission Wales website at www.forestry.gov.uk/wales, or customers can phone the Technical Services team at 0300 068 0300 or email [email protected] to request a form.
