Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the planting of conifers.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 March 2014 to the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Official Report, column 75W.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recommendations have been made to him by the Natural Capital Committee on the ecosystem services provided by woodland.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Natural Capital Committee's (NCC) second report to the Government's Economic Affairs Committee was published on 11 March. The report does not make specific recommendations that only apply explicitly to woodland. It does however use woodland based examples to illustrate a number of opportunities to enhance ecosystem service values. A copy of the report is available at: http://www.naturalcapitalcommittee.org/. The Government plans to respond to the NCC's recommendations in summer 2014.
In 2012, the NCC published its principles for guiding decision making regarding forestry in the UK in response to recommendations made by the Independent Panel on Forestry report. The NCC's response is available at: http://www.naturalcapitalcommittee.org/advice.html
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made towards the creation of a new public forest trustee body as proposed in the Government's Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement 2013.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Government is making good progress in developing plans for the new, operationally independent public body to manage the public forest estate, as announced in the Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement, published in January 2013. Defra and the Forestry Commission have worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders in designing the features of the new body. Subject to Parliamentary time, the Government intends to legislate at the earliest opportunity.