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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of providing regulatory protection to wooded land.

Forestry is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. All trees in England are currently protected by the Forestry Act which requires that anyone wishing to fell trees, except where exemptions apply, must obtain a licence before doing so. When carrying out felling landowners must comply with the terms of their felling licence including any restocking conditions. Failure to do so is an offence. The Government strengthened the penalties for illegal felling in the Environment Act 2021.

Individual trees and groups of trees can also be protected by Tree Protection Orders which require written consent from the local authority to be sought prior to the tree being felled, damaged or destroyed. Where deforestation is planned, the landowner may be required to undertake a deforestation Environmental Impact Assessment and gain consent from the Forestry Commission prior to any works being carried out.