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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the areas of England that will be designated as forestry investment zones.

Local stakeholders and the forestry sector will be encouraged to identify potential areas for Forestry Investment Zones and to develop these in partnership with government. We anticipate these proposals will be based on the emerging findings of the first pilot Forestry Investment Zone in Cumbria, later in the year.