Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about the protection of trees and woods.
The Government has been clear about the importance of environmental protection across the United Kingdom, not least through the world leading Environment Act, which includes a legally binding target to halt the decline of nature by 2030. The Government is committed to meeting this target and will not undermine our obligations to the environment in pursuit of growth. You can read the Government's 25 year Environment Plan here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan
The England Trees Action Plan 2021 works to ensure that we have 12 per cent woodland cover in England by the middle of the century, supported by over 80 announcements knitting together to create a comprehensive plan of action. Recent targets through the Environment Act 2021 go further, with the aim to increase tree canopy and woodland cover from 14.5 per cent to 17.5 per cent of total land area in England by 2050. You can find the England Trees Action Plan here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-trees-action-plan-2021-to-2024
The Government is spending more than £750 million by 2024-25 through the Nature for Climate Fund to help meet the commitment to increase tree planting, with the aim of planting 30,000 hectares per year by May 2024. I am aware that good progress is being made towards the target, with tree planting and woodland creation increased to around 2,700 hectares in England in 2021-22.
Ministers will ensure that the right trees are planted in the right places, that trees and woodlands are better protected, that more green jobs are created in the forestry sector and that people have greater access to woodlands.
From the Nature for Climate Fund, investments will support the creation and management of woodland, including the Woodland Creation Partnerships, the Urban Tree Challenge Fund and a Local Authority Treescape Fund. Ministers plan to create at least three new community forests which, together with existing community forests, will enable the establishment of 6,000 hectares of new woodland around our towns and cities by 2025.
The Government will also create a new Centre for Forest Protection and develop a Woodland Resilience Implementation Plan to improve the ecological condition of woodlands, as well as publish a new Great Britain Plant Biosecurity Strategy by 2022.
Earlier this year the Government published a Nature Recovery Green Paper, setting out proposals to reform our system of protections, including the Habitats Regulations. The Nature Recovery Green Paper consultation closed in May and the Government is now in the process of analysing responses with the Government's response to be published in due course.
Th Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is carefully considering the scope of the delegated powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, and whether they can be used to deliver a better, bespoke British system of nature protections to replace the provisions in the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended).
As we are no longer in the European Union, the UK is free from the Common Agricultural Policy, which did little to deliver for farmers, farming or the environment. The Government’s 2019 Manifesto was clear that the Government would maintain the budget for farming but spend it in a way that does better for farming and nature.
The Government wants to support the choices that individual farmers make for their farms, boost food production and agricultural productivity. This in turn will bolster the rural economy and support communities across the country. I would like to assure you that the Government is not scrapping its Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMS). Ministers are looking at the frameworks for regulation, innovation and investment that impact farmers and land managers to ensure that the Government’s policies are best placed to both boost food production and protect the environment. This includes looking at how best to deliver the ELMS to see where improvements could be made.
I know that farmers and land managers will play an essential role in halting the decline in species, including farmland birds and insects, by 2030. I look forward to reading further details about the ELMS in due course.
We have the chance to have a farming industry that is more independent and financially resilient, with the bureaucratic rulebook of the EU era that damaged the environment confined to history. It will be an industry that champions economic growth and increases domestic production while returning nature to the land and improving the natural assets that support food production, such as high-quality soil.
In response to concerns about the protection of environmental protections, the following sets out my views: https://www.richardfuller.co.uk/campaigns/environmental-protections-and-future-environmental-land-management-scheme-september-2022
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
