Second year of Urban Forestry Programme opens across Scotland

Community groups, organisations and schools across Scotland are being invited to apply for grants of up to £100,000.

Article Source: Future Woodlands Scotland
Last Updated: 24 November 2025 11:06

Image: From left to right: Tom Hudson, Project Director, JERA Nex bp, Des Hackett, Urban Forestry Manager, Future Woodlands Scotland, Laura Savage, Community Volunteer Co-ordinator, The Conservation Volunteers
Credit: Stewart Attwood

The fund of up to £10m is being delivered as part of the Urban Forestry Programme, supporting projects that create, enhance, and expand urban woodlands. The programme is run by Future Woodlands Scotland with funding from JERA Nex bp, and aims to make Scotland’s towns and cities greener, healthier and more resilient places to live.

The first year of the programme saw 12 projects receive a total of £620,000 across Scotland, helping groups and organisations to transform underused spaces into thriving green areas. It's hoped these will benefit people and nature, supporting biodiversity, education, community involvement and job creation.

As National Tree Week gets underway, projects can now apply for funding of between £2,000 and £100,000, with applications open until 23 January 2026.

Shireen Chambers, CEO of Future Woodlands Scotland said: “Urban trees and woodlands are vital to the health and wellbeing of our communities. They clean our air, cool our streets, and create spaces where people can connect with nature and each other.

“We’re excited to launch the second year of the Urban Forestry Programme and invite groups across Scotland to bring forward bold ideas that will help make our towns and cities greener, fairer, and more resilient.

“We’re especially keen to receive applications from areas with low tree canopy cover, where funding can help create green spaces and extend the benefits of trees to communities that currently have limited access to them.”

Funding is now available to a wide range of applicants from community groups to charities, local authorities, and schools, but projects must contribute to the goal of helping towns and cities in Scotland achieve the 3:30:300 rule. This aims to ensure that every person can see three trees from their home, lives no more than 300 metres from a park or green space, and there is at least 30% tree canopy cover in every neighbourhood.

In its first year, the Urban Forestry Programme supported 12 projects including:

• An arts and environmental project at Govanhill which invites residents, artists and growers to co-create a dispersed orchard

• A project to establish woodlands and orchards with residents across two council housing estates in Edinburgh

• Planting trees in high-priority neighbourhoods across South Lanarkshire, with a link to Clyde Climate Forest to allow collaboration with partners

Laura Salvage, Community Volunteer Co-ordinator, The Conservation Volunteers, said: “Engaging volunteers is key to sustaining our urban forest. Support from the Urban Forestry Programme has helped us to expand the Clyde Climate Forest Tree Warden Scheme to 52 active volunteers across eight local authorities in the Glasgow City Region. These passionate volunteers have been vital in planting more than 6,200 trees in 16 target neighbourhoods as well as caring for young trees through hands-on maintenance and training. Without the Tree Warden Scheme and the involvement of local people, we would not have achieved such a positive impact on urban forests.”

Last year’s projects have already engaged hundreds of volunteers, planted thousands of trees, and strengthened local partnerships between communities, councils, and environmental groups.

Over the next 10 years, Future Woodlands Scotland, with the support of JERA Nex bp, will work to make Scotland’s cities, towns and urban areas greener and help more people benefit from increased green spaces via the Urban Forestry Programme.

Tom Hudson, Project Director, JERA Nex bp said: “Following the success of last year’s programme, we’re proud to launch the second year of funding for the Urban Forestry Programme. This initiative allows us to work alongside communities across Scotland to create greener, healthier urban spaces. Seeing the positive impact from the first year - hundreds of volunteers engaged, thousands of trees planted - demonstrates the difference this programme can make, and we’re excited to build on that success.”

Applications for funding are now open until 23 January. Full guidance, eligibility criteria, and application forms are available at futurewoodlands.org.uk

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