Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support new woodlands and community green spaces.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our England Trees Action Plan sets out how we will deliver our ambitious commitments to treble tree-planting rates across the country and bring trees and woodlands closer to people, backed by the £750 million Nature for Climate Fund. We are funding three new Community Forests in Cumbria, Devon and the North East, have established the Urban Tree Challenge Fund, and have created opportunities for large-scale tree planting through the Landscape Recovery Scheme with details soon to be launched. On 24 January I had the pleasure of visiting Blenheim estate, a 104-hectare woodland created under the England Woodland Creation Offer. Landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply to the England Woodland Creation Offer, which provides both greater financial incentives to plant and maintain trees and offers greater recognition of the benefits provided by woodland to people and nature.