Legal Protections for Ancient Trees

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of legal protections for ancient trees; and whether further measures, including stronger penalties, are needed to prevent their unlawful destruction.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)]

My Lords, felling trees without a licence where one is required carries unlimited fines and a potential prison sentence, and those protections are underpinned by a robust enforcement regime. In addition, ancient and veteran trees benefit from the highest levels of protection within the planning system. Any loss or deterioration should be refused unless there are wholly exceptional reasons. We recognise the importance of this issue and are reviewing these protections to ensure that they remain effective.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

I thank the Minister but, under the Forestry Act 1967, the destruction of the Whitewebbs oak in Enfield—still alive at the time—required an application to the Forestry Commission for a felling licence, which was never sought. The commission concluded that no felling licence was required due to legitimate exemptions, meaning that no criminal offence had occurred. But a BBC freedom of information request revealed that the assessment made by the commission’s investigator recommended that no such exemption could legitimately be applied in this case. My understanding is that the Forestry Commission ignored this, simply because the outdated legislation gives it no teeth to adequately protect ancient trees. Will the Government amend the Forestry Act 1967 to explicitly define a higher evidence bar for exempting any ancient tree-felling from licence?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I recognise the situation that the noble Baroness describes, and the Government recognise that we need to look at whether there is more we can do to protect trees. Defra has funded a report, led by the Tree Council and Forest Research, to provide a range of recommendations for improving the protection and stewardship of important trees. We are currently looking at those recommendations, but we will also set out actions to support and protect important trees in the new tree action plan, which we are looking to publish before the end of the year. We are absolutely cognisant of the reasons why more needs to be done.