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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of The global tree restoration potential report, published in Science on 5 July 2019 that there are 1.7 billion hectares of treeless land on which 1.2 trillion native tree saplings would naturally grow, providing immense potential for tree-planting as a cheap and effective strategy to tackle climate change; and if he will make a statement.

The UK Government recognises the huge potential for nature based solutions in tackling climate change while also supporting biodiversity. Trees are a major contributor to nature-based carbon sequestration. There are other natural sequesters including mangroves, sea grasses, salt marshes, soil and peatlands.

Through the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF, £5.8bn between 2016-2021) the UK funds several programmes in developing countries that use tree-planting as a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and generating economic benefits for rural communities. For example, Defra’s investments are expected to restore 500,000 hectares of forest generating 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions savings. In Brazil, Defra has invested £55m to help rural farmers restore nearly 200,000 hectares of forest in the Amazon, Atlantic Forests, Cerrado and Caatinga biomes through the implementation of low-carbon agricultural practices. Defra has also invested £10 million to restore up to 20,000 hectares of mangrove forest in Madagascar and Indonesia and recently announced a further £12.75m to restore mangroves across Latin America and the Caribbean.