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

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the (1) loss annually since 2010, and (2) expected loss by 2030, of (a) woodland, and (b) ancient woodland.

The loss of woodland is published in Government statistics. These cover the period 2012-2020 and are available in Table 5 of Components of the net change in woodland area in England, 2012-13 to 2019-20 (Experimental Statistics).

The Government is committed to protecting ancient woodlands. In 2016, the National Forest Inventory report “Preliminary estimates of the changes in canopy cover between 2006 and 2015” found that overall, in England the level of permanent ancient woodland loss to other land uses was 57 hectares or 0.02% between 2006-2015. PDFs are attached.

The England Trees Action Plan (ETAP) published on 18 May 2021, sets out the Government’s future vision for England’s treescape. The Plan committed to updating the ancient woodland inventory to cover the whole of England. This project is now underway and includes mapping smaller ancient woodland sites of 0.25 hectares.

In 2018, the protection of ancient woodlands, ancient trees and veteran trees was strengthened through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), recognising them as irreplaceable habitats. The NPPF also outlines that any development resulting in the loss or deterioration of such irreplaceable habitats should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and only if a suitable compensation strategy exists. In 2021, the Government committed to reviewing the NPPF with respect to ancient woodlands, consulting on strengthening the wording in the NPPF and introducing a new duty on planning authorities to consult the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities before granting permission for development affecting ancient woodlands.