The Government has been told that it won’t achieve its goals on tree planting - key to achieving the UK’s net zero, biodiversity and nature recovery objectives – unless it puts a comprehensive plan in place to support greater planting.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is also calling on ministers to seize the opportunity to expand domestic tree production, the forestry sector workforce and to increase the amount of domestic timber used in UK building and construction.
In a new report, Tree Planting, the Committee recommends more comprehensive annual planting targets, better finance schemes and more accurate mapping if the government is to achieve its aim of creating 30,000 hectares of new woodland every year in the UK by 2025.
Setting annual targets for England’s contribution to the target would provide certainty to the sector, says the report. Current performance indicates a rapid increase in planting rates would be required to reach the UK target but the government has not set a clear goal for England’s contribution, which will probably require trebling its planting rate by 2024. This would require a ‘steep climb’, say MPs.
Planting ‘the right tree in the right place’ will be critical to the Government’s net zero, nature recovery and biodiversity goals. Today’s report calls on Defra, the Forest Commission and Natural England to set out a plan for completing the detailed mapping work required to ensure trees are planted in beneficial locations. Government must help local authorities to manage competing priorities for land use by producing more comprehensive guidance on creating Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
This is interesting as CJS published an article from The Heart of England Forest yesterday entitled ‘the right tree in the right place’ – read it here
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Posted On: 22/03/2022