Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to minimise deforestation (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.
Answered by David Rutley
As forestry is a devolved matter this answer relates to England only.
The Forestry Act and the Environmental Impact Assessment regulations afford woodlands protection from inappropriate felling and land use change.
The Government is committed to accelerating new woodland planting and has a number of manifesto commitments to support afforestation in England, including the planting of 11 million trees and a further one million trees in our towns and cities by 2022.
The Government also has a number of schemes to support afforestation including the Woodland Creation Grant under Countryside Stewardship, the Woodland Carbon Fund, and the Woodland Creation Planning Grant.
In January the Prime Minister announced through the 25 Year Environment Plan the support of the new Northern Forest, which will see 50 million trees planted by 2042.
The 25 Year Environment Plan also outlines our commitment to supporting and protecting the world’s forests, supporting sustainable agriculture and enhancing sustainability and supporting zero-deforestation supply chains.
The UK Government endorses the New York Declaration on Forests, which aims to end natural forest loss by 2030, and is a member of the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020. Alongside Germany and Norway, we have pledged $5 billion to support countries that are reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Through International Climate Finance, Defra has committed £210m in projects and programmes that aim to protect the world’s most biodiverse forests, for example in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Zambia and Madagascar.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his steps Department is taking to minimise the environmental effect of logging (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.
Answered by David Rutley
In most cases a licence is required from the Forestry Commission before a landowner can undertake tree felling. When considering a felling licence application the Forestry Commission in England will take into account the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS), the government’s approach to sustainable forestry. Where clear felling takes place there is, in most cases, a requirement to restock the woodland to maintain our woodland resource.
In addition recipients of licences are reminded of their obligations to carry out their activities in a manner that reflects good forestry practice with appropriate consideration for possible impacts on habitats and species, including checks to ensure compliance with the Habitats Regulations relating to European Protected Species and obligations to protect birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
These safeguards help ensure that sustainable forest management in the UK, including the appropriate felling of trees, has a positive environmental effect.
The government is committed to tackling the trade in illegal timber. We implement the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which makes it an offence to place illegally logged timber on the EU market for the first time, and the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation, which establishes the FLEGT licensing scheme and aims to improve the supply of legal timber to the EU. The EU FLEGT Regulation is underpinned by Voluntary Partnership Agreements between the EU and timber producing countries. Indonesia became the first partner country to issue FLEGT licences in November 2016.
The Government’s Timber Procurement Policy also requires Government Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies to procure timber and timber products that are both legal and sustainable.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to minimise the environmental effect of farming (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.
Answered by George Eustice
We set out in Chapter 1 of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan how we will reduce the impact of farming on the natural environment. We will design and deliver a new environmental land management system that puts the environment first, which will incentivise and reward land managers to restore and improve our natural capital and rural heritage. We will enforce regulations for new farming rules for water, requiring every farmer to identify and manage risks to water on their land and start taking precautions to reduce ammonia emissions. We will work with farmers to use fertilisers efficiently, in order to cut the air and water pollution that harms the environment, and we will protect crops while reducing the environmental impact of pesticides.
As the 25 Year Environment Plan makes clear, it is vital that we leave a lighter footprint on the global environment, so we will work with business to develop ideas for enhancing sustainability.
In terms of addressing the environmental impact of farming abroad, through International Climate Finance (ICF), Defra has committed £210million to support forestry projects and forest dependent communities to develop low carbon and sustainable agriculture practices.
In the Amazon and Atlantic Forests of Brazil, Defra’s ICF supports small and medium sized farms to implement low-carbon agriculture while protecting forests and biodiversity. Defra also supports the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) which promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions through smarter land-use policies and practices such as sustainable agriculture.
Through our support to the eco.business Fund in Latin America we promote business and consumption practices that contribute not only to biodiversity conservation but also to the sustainable use of natural resources, to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts.