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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce deforestation (a) in the UK and (b) overseas.

In England, when a felling licence is issued, there is a presumption to replant after tree felling. The Forestry Commission also has an enforcement capability under the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended) to combat unlicensed and illegal felling, with additional measures in the Environment Act 2021 that will commence on 1 January 2023 that will enhance these enforcement tools.

Where trees are felled without restocking conditions attached, Open Habitats Policy provides definition if compensatory woodland planting is required. Similarly, the introduction of Biodiversity Net Gain will also define compensatory planting required as a result of woodland habitat loss due to planned development if permitted.

The UK Government has introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to help tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. We recently ran a consultation to seek views on how we should implement Environment Act provisions, including which commodities we should regulate through the first round of secondary legislation, and have since published a summary of responses, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-illegal-deforestation-in-uk-supply-chains.

Deforestation is a global issue that requires global collaboration, and this world-leading due diligence legislation will help tackle as part of a wider package of measures, designed to improve the sustainability of our supply chains contribute to global efforts to protect forests and other ecosystems.