Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many young trees were imported into the United Kingdom for the 2014–15 planting season; how this compares with the previous year; and what assessment they have made of the impact of such imports on the health of trees in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The data provided relates to forest reproductive material, the generic name for the seeds, cones, cuttings and planting stock used in forest establishment. It does not cover imports for non-forest reproductive purposes, which are monitored through the statutory notification schemes administered by the Animal and Plant Health Agency.
The data is only available in financial years and relates to imports from the EU and elsewhere. In summary, import of bareroot and container forestry plants for 2014/15 was 2,088,890 (this figure is for controlled and voluntary species). This represents a significant decrease on 2013/14.
According to the Forest Nursery Trade, the decrease in figures is due to an increase in demand for home grown material in Great Britain.
We assess the impacts of tree and plant pests and diseases using the Plant Health Risk Register, which is publicly available on the Fera website.
Where necessary, we introduce additional plant health requirements in response to threats associated with movements from other Member States.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which department is responsible for the planting and care of trees in the urban environment.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
No single Government department is responsible for the planting of trees in the urban environment, although Defra has general responsibility for forestry and tree health issues in England. The Government’s Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January 2013 recognised the social and environmental benefits of urban trees. The Government has backed this up by supporting charities and community groups to plant one million new trees through the Big Tree Plant, many in urban areas of the greatest deprivation. This is, however, only a fraction of the total number of urban trees in England, the vast majority of which will have been planted by local authorities or private landowners.
As in rural areas, the care of urban trees principally falls to the owner of the land on which they are planted, so the care of trees in our cities’ streets and public parks is generally the responsibility of the local authority. There are also numerous instances of Government bodies such as the Forestry Commission and the Animal and Plant Health Agency working closely with local authorities and landowners to address tree and plant health issues in their area. For example, the Forestry Commission has been working closely with local authorities in London on oak processionary moth.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the incidence of ash dieback in the United Kingdom in the last year as compared with earlier years.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The total aggregate number of sites with confirmed findings of Chalara at the end of calendar year 2014 was 949. This includes wider environment findings, recently planted trees and nursery sites.
This had increased from a total of 615 at the end of calendar year 2013, and 323 at the end of calendar year 2012. The first findings of Chalara in the UK were during 2012.
An interactive map showing the geographical distribution of Chalara in the UK is available on the Forestry Commission website and is updated on a monthly basis.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are investigating the possibility of establishing a statutory quarantine system for all trees imported into the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The Government takes a risk-based approach to prioritise action on plant and tree pests and pathogens to improve resilience. We have produced, working with stakeholders from across industry, Non-Governmental Organisations, and the public, a prioritised plant health risk register of 750 known pests and diseases.
On that basis and where appropriate, we have acted to introduce movement restrictions or requirements for importers to notify incoming consignments of particular species - for example for ash, oak, plane, pine, elm and sweet chestnut.
We are also funding new research to ensure that we have a robust evidence base regarding the pests and diseases that could threaten our trees and plants.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to insist on the implementation of audit trails for all trees imported into the United Kingdom to enable them to be easily traced if necessary.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The Government takes a risk-based approach to prioritise action on plant and tree pests and pathogens to improve resilience. We have produced, working with stakeholders from across industry, Non-Governmental Organisations, and the public, a prioritised plant health risk register of 750 known pests and diseases.
On that basis and where appropriate we have acted to introduce movement restrictions or requirements for importers to notify incoming consignments of particular species, for example for ash, oak, plane, sweet chestnut, pine and elm.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many young trees were imported into the United Kingdom for the 2013–14 planting season; how this compares with the previous year; and what assessment they have made of the impact of such imports on the health of trees in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The data provided relates to forest reproductive material, the generic name for the seeds, cones, cuttings and planting stock used in forest establishment. It does not cover imports for non-forest reproductive purposes. This data is only available in financial years and relates to imports from the EU and elsewhere. In summary, 2,416,665 plants (bareroot and container) were imported into the UK in 2012/13. In 2013/14, 3,064,388 plants (bareroot and container) were imported. This is an increase of 647,723.
We assess the impacts of tree and plant pests and diseases using the Plant Health Risk register that was published recently. This is publicly available on the Fera website at: https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/phiw/riskRegister/
Where necessary, we introduce additional plant health requirements in response to threats associated with movements from other Member States. For example, we have recently instigated measures to require notification for plane, ash, sweet chestnut, oak, elm and pine introduced into England from all other EU Member States. This information can be used to direct surveillance and eradication activities against pests and diseases affecting these species.