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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 242 projects were registered under the Woodland Carbon Code at 30 June 2017, covering an area of 16.2 thousand hectares of woodland and projected to sequester 6.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

143 projects had been validated by end June 2017, covering an area of 5.0 thousand hectares and projected to sequester 2.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Three projects were verified by the end of June 2017. These projects are projected to sequester 79 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
December 2015 114 106 0 220
December 2016 138 102 3 243
March 2017 140 107 3 250
June 2017 143 96 3 242
Area of woodland (hectares)
December 2011 319 1887 0 2206
December 2012 1134 1877 0 3011
December 2013 2503 12679 0 15183
December 2014 3322 12052 0 15374
December 2015 4015 11826 0 15841
December 2016 4885 11012 148 16046
March 2017 4993 11028 148 16170
June 2017 5020 11049 148 16218
Projected carbon sequestration2 (thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) 
December 2011 137 791 0 928
December 2012 500 895 0 1395
December 2013 1156 4460 0 5617
December 2014 1588 4083 0 5671
December 2015 1956 3855 0 5811
December 2016 2323 3475 79 5876
March 2017 2385 3476 79 5940
June 2017 2417 3457 79 5952

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 CO2sequestered 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 2017 were in England (119) and Scotland (101), 21 were in Wales and one in Northern Ireland (Table 4.3b).

Table 4.3b Woodland Carbon Code projects1at 30 June 2017

  England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland UK
Number of projects     
Awaiting validation 53 11 32 0 96
Validated 66 10 66 1 143
Verified 0 0 3 0 3
Total 119 21 101 1 242
Area of woodland (hectares)
Awaiting validation 642 32 10375 0 11049
Validated 1614 275 3123 9 5020
Verified 0 0 148 0 148
Total 2256 307 13647 9 16218
Projected carbon sequestration2 (thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)
Awaiting validation 359 14 3084 0 3457
Validated 903 143 1368 3 2417
Verified 0 0 79 0 79
Total 1262 157 4531 3 5952

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 CO2sequestered 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,fs2017fig4-3.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 CO2sequestered 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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