Woodland Carbon

Overview

Scottish Woodlands have been involved with Woodland Carbon Code projects since 2014 and have an established track record of securing Woodland Carbon investment opportunities for our clients. We have successfully taken forward schemes ranging from just a few hectares to many hundreds and both native woodland and commercial conifers. Scottish Woodlands Ltd now have a portfolio of over 200 carbon projects predicted to sequester 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Our carbon team are involved in a variety of carbon projects from new woodland creation and peatland restoration schemes.

Woodland and Peatland Carbon is tradable and has a value.

• Carbon sold when trees are planted or peatlands are restored can provide additional income to get a new project ‘over the line’ financially.
• Verified carbon can be used to offset UK based carbon emissions.

We can offer a comprehensive range of services from project implementation, new woodland creation design, forest establishment and planting through to long-term peatland and forest management and timber harvesting. We have the necessary skills and expertise to ensure the carbon opportunity in your new investment is developed and the potential maximised.

Read our recent news article on carbon here (page 26).

Our Services

As is our ethos, we act solely on behalf of our clients and will provide sound advice to secure their carbon opportunity. It is important that our clients fully understand both the financial advantages and restrictions of selling carbon and the options to either sell their carbon, hold it as part of their wider woodland investment or use it for their own offsetting purposes. We put silviculture first to ensure that the woodland investment is not compromised by the long-term carbon commitment.

There are a range of potential carbon purchasers, but we are not carbon brokers, so we are free to advise our clients without any conflict of interest. 

Making Woodland Carbon Code or Peatland Code applications is not straightforward but we will take your project through the application process and keep you informed of progress.

Carbon & Natural Capital: Download brochure

Carbon Investment: Download brochure

Carbon Insetting: Download brochure

Woodland Carbon Code

The Woodland Carbon Code is a government scheme administered by Scottish Forestry but available UK wide. The Code allows the owners of new woodland planting schemes to calculate the total carbon sequestration their woodland will achieve over the lifetime of the trees. The planting scheme must then be validated by a third party but once this is done Pending Issuance Units (PIUs) are generated. PIUs have a value and may be sold but may not be used in an offsetting calculation until the trees have grown and the carbon sequestration verified. Verification allows the PIUs to be converted to Woodland Carbon Units which may be used to offset UK based emissions. Woodland Carbon Code schemes may last between 35 and 100 years.

If the carbon is sold there would be a long-term contract between the owner and a third party. This may limit what the owner can do with the woodland.

Woodland Carbon Code: Download brochure

The Peatland Code

Peatland is a super carbon store. The hydrology of peatland, in its natural waterlogged state, prevents carbon within organic matter at the surface oxidising and being released as carbon dioxide. Restoration is crucial as degraded peatland has been contributing to rising carbon emissions.

The Peatland Code was developed in 2015 and managed by the IUCN Peatland Programme. The reduction in carbon emissions by peatland restoration is quantified, validated, and verified in a similar way to the Woodland Carbon Code. The emissions reduction benefit from restoring peatlands is permanent and linear therefore the carbon yield is the same ever year for the whole duration of the project. Projects yield Pending Issuance Units (PIUs) at validation and verification allows the PIUs to be converted to Peatland Carbon Units which may be used to offset UK based emissions.

Where an owner has an area of peat, we may be able to work up an integrated woodland and peatland carbon scheme.

Peatland Code: Download brochure

The Woodland Carbon Guarantee

The Woodland Carbon Guarantee is available for woodland planting in England only. It provides a guaranteed index linked price for verified Woodland Carbon Units (WCUs), until 2055. If an owner prefers, units can still be sold on the open market rather than to the government. It operates by reverse auction with various auction rounds throughout the year.