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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund natural forest regeneration (1) to replace conifer plantations, and (2) for currently non-forested sites.

The Countryside Stewardship Woodland Improvement Grant and the HS2 Woodland Fund currently provide support for the natural regeneration of native species on plantations, including conifer plantations, on ancient woodland sites.

Our recent consultation on the England Tree Strategy referred to making more use of natural regeneration as part of our approach to diversifying our treescapes and woodlands and to harnessing the power of natural processes such as natural colonisation to establish woodlands where appropriate. We will be considering the responses received during the consultation in due course. In parallel, we are considering how the Nature for Climate Fund might support natural colonisation.