Invitation
You are being invited to take part in a survey carried out as part of an evaluation of Defra’s Nature for Climate Tree Planting Programme. This programme provides grants and support using mechanisms such as the England Woodland Creation Grant (EWCO), Community Forests and Woodland Creation Partnerships to meet the UK government’s objectives for tree planting and woodland creation in England. The survey is being carried out by researchers at The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI), on behalf of Defra. The Forestry Commission, Community Forests, Woodland Trust, National Forest Company, Great Northumberland Forest and Forest for Cornwall have been working to support Defra in relation to this initiative.
Before you decide to participate, it is important for you to understand why this survey is being conducted and what your participation will involve. The following Information Sheet outlines what taking part will involve and how your personal data will be used by all parties in order to conduct the survey. It also contains contact details should you wish to find out more, withdraw your participation or exercise your rights under the UK Data Protection Act 2018.
Please take the time to read the following information carefully.
Who are the CCRI?
The CCRI, within the University of Gloucestershire, is a specialist rural research institute working at the interface of agriculture, society and the environment. Learn more about the institute here: http://www.ccri.ac.uk/about-the-ccri/. As part of this project, we are also working with partners from ADAS, an independent research consultancy.
Why am I being asked to participate in this survey?
The aim of this study is to evaluate the tree planting and woodland creation scheme in England. The survey is a key part of the evaluation and seeks to collect information about your experience of receiving either an England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) grant, or a grant via Community Forests, Woodland Trust, National Forest Company, Great Northumberland Forest and Forest for Cornwall. To inform the evaluation of these grants and the process of applying for them, it is crucial for Defra to receive input and views from those who have been through the application process. As you have first-hand experience of applying for a tree planting grant or support, we are particularly interested in your thoughts and opinions. We are interested in the views of both successful and unsuccessful applicants, and are therefore inviting all applicants to take part in this survey.
If I participate, what is my survey data going to be used for?
The survey results will be aggregated and anonymized (this might involve production of charts and tables, as well as ways of looking at patterns in the verbal responses using specialist software). This will then be used by the team to write a report which will make recommendations on what worked well, for whom and in what context, in terms of the grants and support delivered via the Nature for Climate Tree Planting Programme. This report will be sent to Defra and eventually made publicly available. We may also publish academic articles using the data. Anonymised data may be kept indefinitely and used for future research.
All data will be stored on encrypted, password protected computers and on the University of Gloucestershire Sharepoint or Teams site. For more information on how the research team manages personal data, please read the CCRI Research Participants Privacy Notice.
For the purpose of the survey, CCRI use Jisc, a professional survey platform with ISO9001 and ISO27001 Certifications. Survey data are hosted on survey data is stored within Amazon Web Services (AWS), within the Republic of Ireland. For more information about the way Jisc will store your information within a survey, please read about their security management approach.
The Forestry Commission, Community Forests, Woodland Trust, National Forest Company, Great Northumberland Forest and Forest for Cornwall will not share any personal data with Defra, CCRI or ADAS. However, if you decide that you want to be contacted to participate in a follow-up interview or focus group about your experience of applying for a grant, you can choose to complete the appropriate section in the questionnaire which asks for your name, email address and phone number. Completing this section in the survey will mean you are agreeing to provide the information directly to CCRI and ADAS for the purposes of this additional research. These details will be stored separately from your survey responses and will be retained only for the duration of the project (until August 2026) before being securely deleted.
Do I have to take part?
No – participation is voluntary. It is entirely up to you whether you decide to participate. You can stop taking part at any time and choose not to answer a question.
How can you verify, modify or delete your information?
The survey will not store your personal data unless you voluntarily enter it into the survey.
You can withdraw your survey responses for up to two weeks after submitting them. We will ask you to create an anonymous identifier so that we can locate your response and remove it from the dataset. Please email agoodenough@ccri.ac.uk if you wish to remove your responses within this timeframe.
You also have the right to access your personal data and the right to rectify, block or delete it in case the data is inaccurate or incomplete. If you entered personal data into the survey and you want to verify which personal data is being stored by the survey, and have it modified, corrected or deleted, please email agoodenough@ccri.ac.uk. We aim to follow up your request within two weeks, but this may be extended to one month where necessary. You will be informed of any such extension within 2 weeks of receipt of the request, together with the reasons for the delay.
Who has reviewed this research for ethical clearance?
The research has been granted approval from the University of Gloucestershire Ethics Committee and steps have been taken to ensure the survey (and the wider project) fully complies with the necessary personal data management procedures in place at the University (more info: https://www.glos.ac.uk/research/research-ethics).
What if I have any questions / concerns?
Please email the project lead Dr Julie Urquhart (jurquhart1@glos.ac.uk). Alternatively, please contact the Chair of the University of Gloucestershire Research Ethics Committee (Prof Matt Reed mreed@glos.ac.uk).
Please retain the URL link to this information sheet for your future reference.
