Landowners are being offered cash to plant more native broadleaved woodland in the Yorkshire Dales national park.

The target is to plant 80 hectares (198 acres) by the end of the 2009/10 planting season, which runs between October and March.

Funded by the park authority and its partners – the Forestry Commission and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust – the scheme aims to make significant improvements to the area in terms of the habitat, landscape and wildlife.

William Lambert, who is planting a broadleaved woodland near Bainbridge, said: “I had an area of land that was of little agricultural use and, year after year, it seemed to be wasted. A footpath went through it and I thought it would make the area more useful and attractive to wildlife if it was a woodland.

“I couldn’t afford to do it on my own so the grant has made it happen and I have received a lot of help with the paperwork and organisation from authority staff.”

The park authority’s senior trees and woodland officer, Geoff Garrett, said: “We picked some ancient woodlands within the national park that were grouped together and made it a priority to plant new areas between them to link them all.

“This strategy aims to combat the long-term effect of climate change by creating a network of ‘corridors’ linked to each other and to other habitats like grassland and meadows that provide a natural way for wildlife to move around.

So far more than 20 landowners have volunteered for the scheme and planting on 80 hectares started this month.

For further information, contact Geoff on 01756 751648 or Chris Lodge at the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust on 015242 51002.