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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the merits of modernising the licensing system for forestry operations to provide greater protection for ancient woodlands.

England’s trees and woodlands are protected by a number of regulatory regimes. These include the felling licence regime, the environmental impact assessment regulations, tree preservation orders, sites of special scientific interest and the planning regime.

Defra recently conducted and published a review into how ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees are protected by the National Planning Policy Framework. We are working to take forward the findings.