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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards meeting the pledge to plant 11 million trees between 2015 and 2020; and whether those trees are additional rather than replacement trees.

The Government is on course to plant 11 million trees this Parliament 2017-22. Woodland creation is a key activity in our 25 year Environment Plan.

The Forestry Commission routinely publish statistics on planting rates for new woodland creation as part of their Corporate Performance Indicators. The latest figures show that from April 2017 to March 2019 at least 3.64 million trees have been planted, equivalent to approximately 2,318 hectares of woodland creation. These figures concern additional rather than replacement trees and as such exclude trees planted to restock woodland after timber harvesting operations.

Government’s support for this woodland creation has predominantly been from the Countryside Stewardship scheme. Further Government support has been through the Environment Agency and National Forest Company.

In the Autumn Budget the Government announced an additional £60 million for tree planting initiatives, comprising £10 million to fund urban tree planting and £50 million for a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme. This will add to other new planting in the pipeline, supported by the High Speed 2 Woodland Fund, the Woodland Carbon Fund and Government’s kick start investment in the Northern Forest.