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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled England’s non-woodland trees freely mapped for first time, published on 5 April 2025, whether his Department plans to use this mapping to identify trees which are not currently protected by tree protection orders.

The Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme’s Trees outside Woodlands (ToW) map identifies the location, distribution and cover of trees, small groups of trees and small woodlands (less than 0.5 hectares) in England, and enables citizens, communities and local authorities to identify trees outside woodland in their local area for the first time.

Local authorities hold information on the Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) in their area and can choose how this information is disseminated, of which some choose to do so through mapping. Members of the public can contact their local authority to check the TPOs in their local area. Local authorities are responsible for TPOs and may use the ToW map as a tool to cross-reference with their records.