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 the target to plant eleven million trees between 2015 and 2020.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government has planted 15 million trees since 2010, and remains committed to planting 11 million trees in this Parliament, 2017-22. Woodland creation is a key activity of our 25 Year Environment Plan.

The Forestry Commission routinely publishes statistics on planting rates as part of its Corporate Performance Indicators. The latest figures show that from April 2017 to end March 2019 at least 3.2 million trees have been planted, equivalent to approximately 2,083 hectares of woodland creation.

The Government’s support for this woodland creation has predominantly been from the Countryside Stewardship scheme. Further Government support has been through the Environment Agency and National Forest Company.

In the Autumn Budget the Government announced an additional £60 million for tree planting initiatives, comprising £10 million to fund urban tree planting and £50 million for a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme. This will add to other new planting in the pipeline, supported by the High Speed 2 Woodland Fund, the Woodland Carbon Fund and the Government’s kick start investment in the Northern Forest.