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 156 projects had been validated to the Woodland Carbon Code at 31 March 2018, covering almost 5,300 hectares and projected to sequester 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetime. 

Of the validated projects, 37 were also verified by the end of March 2018. These projects cover almost 1,600 hectares and are projected to sequester 713 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetime.

A total of 239 projects were registered under the Woodland Carbon Code at 31 March 2018, covering over 16,100 hectares of woodland and projected to sequester 5.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Table 4.3a Woodland Carbon Code projects¹ in the UK

^{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.  For further information see the Sources chapter.

Together, all validated (including verified) projects were predicted to sequester 1,531 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide in Scotland, 792 thousand tonnes in England, 177 thousand tonnes in Wales and 3 thousand tonnes in Northern Ireland over their lifetime (Table 4.3b).

Table 4.3b Woodland Carbon Code projects¹ at 31 March 2018

^{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.  For further information see the Sources chapter.

Additional resources

Sources chapter: UK Forests and Climate Change