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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on his targets on tree planting in (a) England and (b) Yorkshire; and what steps he is taking to measure progress on extending the canopy of the White Rose Forest.

Last year we planted 3,600 hectares of new woodland and trees outside of woodland, this represents the highest planting rate for nearly a decade and an almost 40% increase on the previous year. This positive trend represents significant progress in achieving our targets and we have a strong pipeline for the next few years.

We do not have regional targets for tree planting in England.

Between 2020 and 2023 our Nature for Climate Fund has supported the White Rose Forest to plant 679 hectares of new trees and woodlands as part of England’s Community Forests Trees for Climate Programme. An additional 4.55 hectares plus 847 Standard Trees have been planted in the White Rose Forest under the Northern Forest Nature for Climate Grant between 2021 and 2023. With continued funding, the White Rose Forest is projected to plant significant additional hectares of woodland and numbers of standard trees this year.