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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the acreage of land in England that was wooded at the beginning of 2015; and what they expect the acreage to be at the beginning of 2020.

Woodland statistics are published annually by the Forestry Commission. The latest available figures on woodland area in England are to 31 March 2014. These showed a total woodland area of 1,302,000 hectares (3,217,000 acres), comprising 74% broadleaves and 24% conifers.

We will be working to further increase the area of woodland over the next five years. The Government's Forestry and Woodland Policy Statement, published in 2013, set out our aspirations to increase woodland cover in England from 10% to 12% by 2060, representing an average planting rate of 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) per year. Achieving this challenging aspiration will be dependent on Government-supported woodland creation combined with the efforts of the private and third sectors.