Tree Production Innovation Fund

About the fund

The Tree Production Innovation Fund (TPIF) has been designed to encourage the development and adoption of new technologies and ways of working that will enhance the quantity, quality and diversity of tree planting stock available for planting in England.

The government aims to at least treble tree planting rates in England by 2025, contributing to meeting the UK’s overall target of planting 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this Parliament. To meet these planting targets domestically will require a corresponding increase in UK production of tree planting material. The TPIF is looking to support projects with outputs that will better equip nurseries to supply the trees required for new woodlands and urban planting projects.

The Tree Production Innovation Fund is now open for applications. New to the 2022 offer, applicants will be able to submit multi-year proposals spanning up to three financial years (ending March 2025). Projects can be valued at up to £300K per year and must address one or more of the following challenges identified through stakeholder engagement as barriers to tree production.

Challenge 1

How can we make better use of available seed and vegetative planting material to maximise the quantity, quality and diversity of trees produced?

Challenge 2

How can we develop growing systems to enhance their efficiency and resilience to change, whilst delivering improved quality and diversity of product? This challenge can include activities to promote biosecurity.

Challenge 3

How can innovative environmentally sustainable weed control solutions be used to reduce reliance on herbicides?

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The challenges

Challenge 1: How can we make better use of available seed and vegetative planting material to maximise the quantity, quality and diversity of trees produced?

A variety of issues can lead to a low conversion rate of seed and vegetative material to trees for planting in nurseries. Forest Reproductive Materials (FRM) are in limited supply and it is vital that we maximise the efficient use of the supplies that we have.

• seed quality, and therefore viability, may be affected by a range of factors. Seed quality encompasses purity, viability and health of the batch. Optimised techniques for tree seed harvesting, processing, screening and storage all have potential to improve quality and biosecurity of seed made available to nurseries

• even viable seed can be very hard to germinate and successfully establish, especially for the many tree species which have deeply dormant seed. Projects might seek to develop enhanced treatments such as priming which can enhance synchronicity and speed of germination. Seed coatings and pelleting can modify seed shape and size (which can facilitate use of machinery in seed processing and nurseries) and deliver beneficial compounds from nutrients to pesticides

• enhancing the diversity of tree species and provenances available for planting will present specific challenges. Some of the species which are not commonly available in tree nurseries at present may present particular germination, propagation and establishment difficulties which may require the adoption of new techniques and approaches. In particular, we would encourage proposals that demonstrate potential to facilitate or overcome barriers to broadleaf production

Challenge 2: How can we develop growing systems to enhance their efficiency and resilience to change, whilst delivering improved quality and diversity of product? This challenge can include activities to promote biosecurity.

Nurseries face sometimes contradictory challenges to enhance quantity of tree planting stock, whilst also enhancing quality and diversity. This is exacerbated by several other key challenges facing the sector. Exploring alternative novel growing systems has the potential to significantly enhance the quantity, quality and diversity of trees produced whilst better managing key inputs.

• labour supply issues are identified by tree nurseries as limiting to productivity. The sector is currently reliant on seasonal workers, and recruitment of labour currently poses a challenge to nurseries. Automation such as systems for pricking out or grading is evident in other growing sectors but has been a challenge to introduce into the tree production sector, for example because nurseries deal with smaller volumes and a wider diversity of species. The development or adoption of appropriate automation to increase nursery efficiencies and capacity is required to overcome labour uncertainty. In addition, developments would reduce the need for repetitive manual labour and present opportunities for higher quality jobs (i.e. running of planting machinery)

• recently the sector has seen some shift from field grown to cell grown plants and further innovations that widen uptake or accessibility of these techniques, or develop novel transplanting or planting systems, could significantly enhance production. We would be particularly interested to hear from applicants with proposals that can facilitate such processes without increasing nursery reliance on peat

• projects might explore other means to enhance the efficiency of production such as developing new ways to reduce or manage inputs such as water or reduce the risk of climatic impacts. An enhanced application of understanding of soil health, nutrition or the role of mycorrhiza might also improve growth and establishment rates

• as with seed, a move to enhance the diversity of species and provenances produced will present some specific challenges and projects which seek to overcome these would be welcome. Ensuring the traceability of different provenances of stock is a specific challenge of interest

• biosecurity and the use of best practice standards underpin the production of high-quality tree planting stock. Projects might explore the use of novel technologies or processes that help growers to achieve biosecurity standards and encourage wider uptake of best practice

Challenge 3: How can innovative environmentally sustainable weed control solutions be used to reduce reliance on herbicides?

In recent years the sector has begun to adapt nursery practices to reduce use of chemical herbicides. The sector faces a considerable challenge to reduce reliance on such products without turning to alternatives which are equally environmentally unsustainable, whether it be in the context of greenhouse gas emissions, impact on biodiversity or other considerations. Solutions to this challenge are vital in order to maintain the productivity of the sector.

What funding is available

In 2022/23, up to £1.4 million in capital grant funding will be made available through the TPIF to support innovation projects. Proposals, whether single or multi-year, must have a minimum total cost of £20K to be eligible for funding under the TPIF. Projects may be valued at up to £300K in any given financial year. Eligible costs that may be claimed will include:

• personnel costs related to researchers, and other supporting staff to the extent employed on the project
• costs of equipment for the period of the project. Where such equipment is not used for their full life only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the project shall be eligible
• costs of contractual research, knowledge and patents bought or licensed from outside sources at arm’s-length conditions, as well as costs of consultancy and equivalent services used exclusively for the project
• operating expenses, including costs of materials, supplies and similar products, incurred directly as a result of the project

The following expenditure is ineligible:

• costs or overheads such as rent, and utilities apportioned to those staff directly or indirectly employed on the project
• travel and subsistence expenses
• costs incurred outside of the project delivery window
• costs involved in preparing your application
• costs currently being met by another grant scheme

Am I eligibile?

The TPIF is open to a wide range of applicants from the private sector and we would welcome applications from consortia and new entrants to the sector.

The following groups are identified as likely potential applicants to the fund:

• private sector nurseries, organisations, and seed suppliers
• public bodies partnered with private sector third party organisations
• research institutes
• universities and colleges
• horticultural and agricultural growers

Public bodies are required to partner with private sector third party organisations to be eligible for funding. Forestry England (FE) and Forest Research (FR) are not eligible for grant funding under the TPIF but may be subcontracted on behalf of eligible organisations to complete TPIF related work packages.

Is my project eligible?

Projects can be single year with output(s) that will be fully developed by 27 March 2023 or multi-year proposals set to run for up to three financial years, ending 27 March 2025. Applicants submitting proposals spanning multiple financial years should state this on the application form and clearly outline the activities, milestones and outputs that will be delivered by the end of each financial year. Multi-year agreements will be subject to an annual performance monitoring review by the FC. Where applicants are failing to deliver against agreed outputs and objectives, or it becomes clear that avenues of research are no longer worth pursuing, multi-year agreements may be terminated at the discretion of the FC.

To be eligible for funding:

• the proposal must demonstrate how the project will contribute to enhancing quantity, quality and/or diversity of trees produced for planting in England by meeting one of the challenges above
• the lead partner in the work to be funded (i.e. the lead applicant) must be a UK based business, sole trader or organisation
• the intention of the work to be funded shall be to exploit the results in England (but not necessarily exclusively so)
• the project proposal shall be relevant to species with forestry potential (but not necessarily exclusively so)
• the work to be funded must not have commenced
• the project must be limited to pre-commercial activity

All eligibility criteria are fully described in the TPIF Application Form.

How do I apply?

An application will contain details about:

• details of the project and how it fits within the scope of the fund
• the approach you will take and where the focus of the innovation will be
• who is in the project team and what their roles are
• the impact that the project might have outside of the project organisations
• how the project will be managed effectively
• the main risks for the project, and how these will be mitigated
• the impact that an injection of public funding would have on the project
• the cost of the project and how it represents value for money for the project team and for the taxpayer
• details of activities to be funded and outputs expected

Applicants must provide project costs, organisational details and funding details for each organisation involved in the project. All costs and financial details should be in £ Sterling.

All questions in the application form are mandatory. If any part of your application is incomplete, your application will be returned to you within two working days for you to revise and resubmit before the deadline should you wish. If any part of your application is unclear, the Forestry Commission may contact you – at any time prior to informing you of a funding decision – to request further information. Your application will be rejected if: your project is ineligible for funding (see ‘Is my project eligible?’ above) or if your application scores 0 in response to any question in the application form when the Forestry Commission evaluates it. A minimum overall score of 20/40 is required to be eligible for TPIF grant funding.

The Forestry Commission reserves the right to change the deadline for applications or make changes to the Invitation to Apply and the application process at short notice. The Forestry Commission reserves the right to amend, add to or withdraw all or any part of the funding application process at any time during the process. All changes are recorded at the bottom of this page (click ‘show all updates’) and where these are made following the opening date the lead applicant for all applications already received will be contacted directly by email. Material changes (for example to the closing date or eligibility rules) will also be communicated via the Forestry Commission’s Grants and Regulations eAlert.

The Forestry Commission reserves the right to not award all of the funding available if insufficient bids of an appropriate quality are received.

Applicants who canvass FC or Defra employees associated with the TPIF may have their applications rejected from the process.

Applicants who are unable to accept standard terms and conditions may have their application eliminated from the application process.

If you wish to clarify any application requirements or the application process, please email tpif@forestrycommission.gov.uk. We will aim to respond to all requests for clarification within two working days of receipt. If we consider information requests relevant to any applicant, we will provide additional guidance to all applicants (via point of contact provided) by email to ensure fair and openness. We may be unable to respond to other support requests due to the competitive bid process.

If you wish to amend your application before the published deadline or withdraw your application at any time, please email tpif@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

If you consider the information contained within your application to be commercially sensitive, you must notify the Forestry Commission of this when submitting your application. This will then be considered when requests for clarification are received. If relating information is relevant to all Applicants and you have indicated that you consider this commercially sensitive, we will discuss with you before releasing any information and may be unable to support the request due to the competitive bids process.

The Forestry Commission reserves the right not to answer clarifications where it considers that the answer to that clarification would or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.

The Forestry Commission may carry-out checks on each application using a variety of government tools including the Cabinet Office’s automated grants due diligence tool called ‘Spotlight’ and Bank Account Verification software. As part of due diligence process, the Forestry Commission may share details of the organisations involved in applications to this Innovation Fund with other parts of government.

Consortium applications are welcomed. A lead partner should be identified in the application. The lead applicant will become the sole agreement holder with the Forestry Commission; they will be responsible for the undertakings and obligations detailed in any grant agreement, in line with Terms and Conditions of Funding. If your application is successful, the lead applicant will become the sole agreement holder and will be the sole recipient of grant funding upon receipt of valid claims. The contractual arrangements held between the lead applicant and their co-applicants are not the responsibility of the Forestry Commission and the lead applicant will have sole responsibility for onward disbursal of grant funding to co-applicants, for example.

All applications will be evaluated by a panel with expertise and experience of tree production methods used in England. Any applications deemed to fall outside the scope of the fund will not be evaluated.

The Forestry Commission will regard all eligible applications as remaining valid for 6 months after the initial closing date for applications. If the funds are oversubscribed and additional funds become available. Valid applications may be reconsidered for funding.

Applicants will be notified of their TPIF funding decision by 14 June 2022. Projects must not begin before the start date of any grant agreement offered by the Forestry Commission. Successful applicants will be required to complete a full report of the project, detailing achievement against stated outcome and outputs, lessons learnt, a complete cost breakdown outlining how the grant funding has been spent and any need for further development, by 27 March 2023. A preliminary report covering progress made towards project milestones, expenditure, emerging results and next steps must be provided by the 31 October 2022. Templates for both preliminary and final reports will be provided to successful applicants. Payments may be withheld or reclaimed if reports are not submitted on time. Applicants will be encouraged to work with the Forestry Commission to publish a short article in a suitable trade press after the work has been completed.

There is no limit to the number of bids an applicant may submit provided each application is for a discrete and unique project.

Payments will be made by BACS transfer following receipt of claim forms. In any given financial year, applicants will be able to submit claims at both the preliminary and final reporting stages, and on up to two additional dates chosen by the applicant. All claims must be supported by evidence of eligible expenditure (i.e. invoices/ timesheets) and, where not accompanied by a preliminary or final report, a progress update to demonstrate that works have been carried out as per the grant agreement.

Further Information

Intellectual property shall remain with the grant recipients, but the scope of the project and a summary of the outcomes and outputs shall be made publicly available via trade publications.

Applicants must declare if they have received, have applied for, or intend to apply for any other government funds. The Forestry Commission will carry-out checks on each application using a variety of government tools including the Cabinet Office’s automated grants due diligence tool.

The Forestry Commission is not responsible for any losses, breakages or injuries incurred by the applicant whilst engaged in activities associated with this Innovation Fund.

Neither the Forestry Commission nor its respective advisers, directors, officers, members, partners, employees, other staff or agents:

a) Makes any representation or warranty (express or implied) as to the accuracy, reasonableness, or completeness of this guidance; or

b) Accepts any responsibility for the information contained in this guidance or for the fairness, accuracy or completeness of that information nor shall any of them be liable for any loss or damage (other than in respect of fraudulent misrepresentation) arising as a result of reliance on such information or any subsequent communication.

Enquiries

You can get further help from the FC by emailing your enquiry to tpif@forestrycommission.gov.uk. Find out how to make a complaint or appeal.

Further information

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