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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to make (1) environmental organisations, and (2) tree and woodland owners, aware of the need to remove ivy to protect the crowns of trees.

The Forestry Commission has found that while ivy may be a contributory factor in the death of some declining trees, their investigations suggest this is more to do with exacerbating problems in already weakened or diseased trees than actually killing healthy ones. The majority of healthy tree species are able to tolerate the presence of ivy and there is no strong scientific evidence to suggest that ivy is harmful to trees in general. The removal of ivy is a decision for individual landowners and managers and we do not promote or encourage the removal of ivy which can itself provide valuable habitat for wildlife.