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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of trees lost as a result of storm activity in England, since 2020.

The number of trees lost to storm activity is not routinely measured. However, as part of the response to Storm Arwen and subsequent named storms, the Forestry Commission is working with Forest Research, Scottish Forestry and the forestry industry to establish levels of damage sustained by our woodlands. A variety of assessment techniques are being used including satellite imagery, aerial surveys and ground based surveys and use of citizen science via a storm damage verification app. It will take a number of weeks for a comprehensive picture of the damage to emerge. Current estimates of area and location of storm damaged woodlands are published by Forest Research and the estimated area of damage is likely to increase as more data is collected. The current picture suggests damage is locally significant, with some owners experiencing significant losses of timber, but relatively modest in terms of total woodland area.

The National Adaptation Programme (NAP) sets the actions that government and others will take to adapt to the challenges of climate change in the UK, this includes goals for woodland resilience. We are also working to improve our woodlands resilience through the development of the Woodland Resilience Implementation Plan, which will improve the ecological condition of our woodlands and increase their resilience to climate change, including more extreme weather events like storms.