FARMERS and landowners in Cumbria are being urged to sign up to the second auction of the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.

The Forestry Commission announced this week that £10m will be available in the latest round with landowners encouraged to commit by June 5, ahead of the next auction which will take place online from June 8 to 19.

Launched in November 2019, the Woodland Carbon Guarantee is a £50 million scheme that aims to help accelerate woodland planting rates and permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Successful participants will be offered the option to sell Woodland Carbon Units to the government over 35 years at a guaranteed price set by auction, providing new income for land managers who help businesses compensate for their carbon emissions.

This announcement follows the success of the first auction which closed in February and saw 18 contracts offered by the Forestry Commission to help stimulate the creation of 182 hectares of new woodland, specifically to help combat climate change.

The outcome of that first exploratory auction paved the way for larger-scale projects to secure funding in forthcoming auctions. A series of auctions will take place every six months for up to five years.