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The Woodland Carbon Code is a voluntary standard, initiated in July 2011, for woodland creation projects that make claims about the carbon they sequester (take out of the atmosphere).

All projects must be placed on the UK Woodland Carbon Registry. Their claims about potential carbon sequestration are validated by an independent certification body. Validated projects are then verified on a regular basis to confirm the progress of carbon sequestration.

Further information on Woodland Carbon Code projects is provided in the Sources chapter and at Home – UK Woodland Carbon Code.

Table 4.3a provides annual and quarterly data on projects registered under the Woodland Carbon Code. The table provides information on the number of projects, area of woodland covered by the projects and the total projected carbon sequestration over the lifetime (up to 100 years) of the projects.

A total of 238 projects were registered under the Woodland Carbon Code at 30 June 2016, covering an area of 16.0 thousand hectares of woodland and projected to sequester 5.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

125 projects had been validated by end June 2016, covering an area of 4.8 thousand hectares and projected to sequester 2.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Two projects were verified by the end of June 2016. These projects are projected to sequester 11 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Table 4.3a Woodland Carbon Code projects1 in the UK

  Validated Awaiting
validation
Verified Total
Number of projects
December 2011 3 36 0 39
December 2012 22 67 0 89
December 2013 63 129 0 192
December 2014 100 97 0 197
March 2015 100 99 0 199
June 2015 101 103 0 204
September 2015 102 106 0 208
December 2015 114 106 0 220
March 2016 121 108 1 230
June 2016 125 111 2 238
Area of woodland (hectares)
December 2011 319 1 887 0 2 206
December 2012 1 134 1 877 0 3 011
December 2013 2 503 12 679 0 15 183
December 2014 3 322 12 052 0 15 374
March 2015 3 322 12 063 0 15 385
June 2015 3 323 12 080 0 15 403
September 2015 3 421 12 196 0 15 617
December 2015 4 015 11 826 0 15 841
March 2016 4 749 11 087 5 15 841
June 2016 4 822 11 141 21 15 985
Projected carbon sequestration2

(thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)

December 2011 137 791 0 928
December 2012 500 895 0 1 395
December 2013 1 156 4 460 0 5 617
December 2014 1 588 4 083 0 5 671
March 2015 1 588 4 091 0 5 679
June 2015 1 588 4 108 0 5 696
September 2015 1 635 4 151 0 5 786
December 2015 1 956 3 855 0 5 811
March 2016 2 278 3 519 2 5 799
June 2016 2 315 3 522 11 5 848

Source: Forestry Commission

Notes:
1. Projects can be validated/ verified individually or come together as part of a group. The statistics presented here show the number of projects validated or verified whether they were put through the process individually or as part of a group.
2. Figures for carbon sequestration indicate the total projected sequestration of the projects over their lifetime of up to 100 years, and include the amount claimable by a project plus the amount allocated to a shared “buffer” in case of unanticipated losses.

Awaiting validation: is when a project or group is undergoing assessment by a certification body.

Validated: is the initial evaluation of a project or group against the requirements of the Woodland Carbon Code. Upon completion a project/group will receive a ‘Validation Opinion Statement’. The project/group will then be certified for a period of up to 5 years.

Verified: Verification is the evaluation of a project as it progresses to confirm the amount of CO2 sequestered to date as well as that it continues to meet the requirements of the Code.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics

Most of the projects registered under the Woodland Carbon Code at 30 June 2016 were in England (129) and Scotland (97), 11 were in Wales and one in Northern Ireland (Table 4.3b).

Table 4.3b Woodland Carbon Code projects1 at 30 June 2016

  England Wales Scotland Northern
Ireland
UK
Number of projects
Awaiting validation 71 4 36 0 111
Validated 58 7 59 1 125
Verified 0 0 2 0 2
Total 129 11 97 1 238
Area of woodland (hectares)
Awaiting validation 804 12 10 325 0 11 141
Validated 1 511 231 3 071 9 4 822
Verified 0 0 21 0 21
Total 2 315 243 13 418 9 15 985
Projected carbon sequestration2
(thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)
Awaiting validation 438 5 3 079 0 3 522
Validated 856 111 1 345 3 2 315
Verified 0 0 11 0 11
Total 1 294 116 4 435 3 5 848

Source: Forestry Commission

Notes:
1. Projects can be validated/ verified individually or come together as part of a group. The statistics presented here show the number of projects validated or verified whether they were put through the process individually or as part of a group.
2. Figures for carbon sequestration indicate the total projected sequestration of the projects over their lifetime of up to 100 years, and include the amount claimable by a project plus the amount allocated to a shared “buffer” in case of unanticipated losses.

Awaiting validation: is when a project or group is undergoing assessment by a certification body.

Validated: is the initial evaluation of a project or group against the requirements of the Woodland Carbon Code. Upon completion a project/group will receive a ‘Validation Opinion Statement’. The project/group will then be certified for a period of up to 5 years.

Verified: Verification is the evaluation of a project as it progresses to confirm the amount of CO2 sequestered to date as well as that it continues to meet the requirements of the Code.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics

Figure 4.3 Projected carbon sequestration of Woodland Carbon Code projects in the UK1,2

fs2016fig4-3.png

Source: Forestry Commission

Notes:
1. Projects can be validated/ verified individually or come together as part of a group. The statistics presented here show the number of projects validated or verified whether they were put through the process individually or as part of a group.
2. Figures for carbon sequestration indicate the total projected sequestration of the projects over their lifetime of up to 100 years, and include the amount claimable by a project plus the amount allocated to a shared “buffer” in case of unanticipated losses.

Awaiting validation: is when a project or group is undergoing assessment by a certification body.

Validated: is the initial evaluation of a project or group against the requirements of the Woodland Carbon Code. Upon completion a project/group will receive a ‘Validation Opinion Statement’. The project/group will then be certified for a period of up to 5 years.

Verified: Verification is the evaluation of a project as it progresses to confirm the amount of CO2 sequestered to date as well as that it continues to meet the requirements of the Code.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics

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