Hedges and Ditches

(asked on 17th May 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the environmental and biodiversity gains of promoting the planting of hedgerows.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 20th May 2021

Analysis carried out by ADAS consultants in 2020 showed planting hedgerows has a range of environmental gains, including positive impacts on biodiversity, landscape character and protection from, and mitigation of environmental hazards.

Recent reports and research from Natural England and Defra have further evidenced that hedgerows can deliver habitat and resources for a range of important wildlife, support ecosystem services, and sequester and store carbon.

In England, the Environmental Stewardship (ES) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) schemes are currently our primary tools in delivering environmentally beneficial hedgerow management and hedgerow creation, which support the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan. Hedgerow management is one of the most popular options within the CS scheme.

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