Statistics

Annual statistics

You can view official annual statistics about the Woodland Carbon Code up to 31 March 2024 in Forest Research’s forestry statistics 2024

Statistics from earlier years are also available.

Interim statistics

Our interim statistics provide data on Woodland Carbon Code projects up to 31 March 2025. 

  

Number of projects on UK Land Carbon Registry 

 Number of projectsEnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUK

Under development

707 191 411 87 1,396
Validated only 133 50 412 15 610
Verified at year 5 52 11 88 1 152
Total validated 185 61 500 16 762
All projects 892 252 911 103 2,158

Projects can be validated/verified individually or as part of a group. This table shows the number of projects validated or verified, whether they were administered individually or as part of a group. 

 

Area of projects on UK Land Carbon Registry 

Area (hectares) EnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUK

Under development

9,185 1,819 42,356 755 54,089
Validated only 2,749 1349 28,758 192 33,049
Verified at year 5 829 192 4,626 9 5,656
Total validated 3,578 1,541 33,385 201 38,705
All projects 12,736 3,361 75,741 956 92,794

 

Projected carbon sequestration of projects 

 Projected sequestration (million tCO2e)EnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUK

Under development

3.6 0.6 11.5 0.3 16.0
Validated only 1.2 0.5 9.0 0.1 10.7
Verified at year 5 0.4 0.1 1.8 0.003 2.4
Total validated 1.6 0.5 10.8 0.1 13.0
All projects 5.2 1.2 22.3 0.4 29.1

These figures include both the carbon units which can be sold and those which are allocated to the buffer.

 

Size of validated and verified projects, number of projects by country 

A bar chart which shows Scotland has the largest proportion of large projects

Species mix of validated and verified projects, by area and country 

A bar chart which shows that England and Northern Ireland have the highest proportion of broadleaf projects and Scotland has the highest proportion of conifer projects

In Scotland, conifers include native Scots Pine, frequently planted as part of native woodlands.

 

Management of validated and verified projects, by area and country 

 A bar chart which shows Scotland and England have the highest proportion of projects which are solely or mainly clearfell

 

Map of projects, by status 

A map of Woodland Carbon Code projects across the UK

Number of Woodland Carbon Units available on UK Land Carbon Registry 

 Available for saleAlready soldLandowners 'growing their own' unitsRetired Woodland Carbon Units Buffer unitsTotal

Pending Issuance Units

6,171,000

3,435,000 81,000 0 2,466,000 12,153,000
Woodland Carbon Units 800 3,500 1,100 4,600 2,300 12,300
  • 1 Carbon Unit = 1 tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent
  • Available for sale - units for sale by a project developer or retail aggregator
  • Already sold - units which have been transferred from a project developer to a corporate buyer’s account or have been assigned to a corporate buyer (if Pending Issuance Units)
  • Landowners growing their own units - units owned by organisations planning to use them against emissions within their own company/organisational boundaries (insetting)
  • Retired Woodland Carbon Units - verified credits which are 'retired' or taken out of use by the final user
  • Buffer units - units which are put aside and stored in a shared buffer pool in case of any future loss of Woodland Carbon Units
  • Pending Issuance Units - validated units of carbon dioxide equivalent which are projected to be delivered/sequestered in future.
  • Woodland Carbon Units - verified units of actual sequestered carbon dioxide equivalent.

 

Conversion of Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units

Woodlands validated to the Woodland Carbon Code will sequester carbon dioxide over the next 100 years.

The chart below shows the projected annual conversion rate of Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units over that period (black line) and the cumulative sequestration of validated projects over that time (bars).

As more projects are validated, more units will be available and the conversion rate will increase. Verified Woodland Carbon Units and buffer units are not included on the chart.

A graph showing how many pending issuance units will be converted to woodland carbon units over time

Mapping information

You can view mapping information about Woodland Carbon Code projects in: 

Scotland Land Information Search

Scotland's Environment Web

England Land Information Search 

Forestry Commission Open Data Site - search 'Woodland Carbon Code' for a shapefile of projects

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