Hedges and Ditches

(asked on 28th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to set targets for hedgerow expansion in the forthcoming review of the 25 year Environmental Improvement Plan.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 31st March 2022

Hedgerows are one of the most important ecological building blocks in our farmed landscape. They maintain the distinctive character of our countryside, providing crucial habitats and food for wildlife. Our primary tools to deliver environmentally beneficial hedgerow management and hedgerow creation are the Environmental Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship schemes. Our future farming schemes will also incentivise the planting and sustainable management of hedgerows across England.

We are required by the Environment Act 2021 to set a legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, alongside other biodiversity targets we are currently consulting on. In order to meet our world leading species abundance target, we will need to create more, better joined up habitats, which will include hedgerows. We are also consulting on a target to create or restore in excess of 500,000 ha of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042. We propose that hedgerows should be one of the wildlife-rich habitats included in this target.

Reticulating Splines