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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the funding required to restore plantations on ancient woodland sites on the Public Forest Estate.

Restoration of plantations on ancient woodland sites on the Public Forest Estate, historically funded through Forestry England’s core budget, is being accelerated by targeted funding from Defra. The impact of this £5.9 million targeted Defra funding for 2026-2029 is being closely monitored through the pace and outcomes of restoration, with a headline target to work towards doubling the recent rate of restoration.

There is no single estimate of the funding required to restore all plantations on ancient woodland sites on the Public Forest Estate because restoration costs vary significantly between sites and cannot be reliably expressed as a single figure. In some cases, restoration can be achieved at little or no net cost where timber sales offset costs. In other cases, costs remain uncertain, with some sites requiring multiple or ongoing interventions and with slower progress towards ecological goals.

Additionally, many costs associated with PAWS (plantations on ancient woodland sites) restoration, such as infrastructure improvements, staff training, and forest planning, support wider forest management and cannot be attributed solely to individual sites or hectares.