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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees were felled in Dorset in response to instructions from Natural England that the felling was necessary to maintain heathland in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many trees are to be felled in 2020.

A number of habitat restoration schemes were undertaken in Dorset associated with the restoration of lowland heathlands SSSI. Heathland is a nationally scarce habitat supporting rare species and, uniquely to Dorset, all our native reptile species. The restoration works have included some felling of trees, predominately commercially planted pine.

The Forestry Commission advises that in Dorset around 50.7ha of woodland has been felled for heathland restoration since January 2019, based on areas given permission through felling licences. This is not easily translatable to numbers of trees and the Forestry Commission does not have sight of future activity.

The works are part of agreed management undertaken by SSSI owners. Natural England supports the actions undertaken by SSSI owners to restore these sites in line with the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan.