Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether planting more trees in England is one of their policies and what assessment they have made of whether planting more trees constitutes a public benefit.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government is committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament, primarily through the Rural Development Programme’s Countryside Stewardship scheme.

In July 2012 the Independent Panel on Forestry reported to the Government that England’s woods and forests provide significant public benefits, including through improving water quality and biodiversity as well as access and recreation.

The Government recognised these benefits in its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January of 2013 which included the response to the Independent Panel Report.