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 have been planted in England in each of the last two years; and what proportion of those trees were planted in urban and residential areas.

The Forestry Commission publishes planting statistics annually. Approximately 17,571,000 trees were planted in England between April 2023 and March 2025 contributing to the statutory tree canopy target. Approximately 3% were within built up areas.

Government funding is supporting planting in urban areas. This includes working with the Tree Council to invest over £3 million since April 2025 to plant trees outside woods. Approximately 125,000 trees have been planted in urban areas across 28 local authorities. We are currently developing future options for planting support for urban trees.

Tree planting rates over the last two years (2024/25 and 2025/26) are the highest in England for more than two decades, with over 13,500 hectares of trees planted over these two years.