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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the funding gap for the updating of the Ancient Woodland Inventory.

In the England Trees Action Plan (ETAP), we committed to update the ancient woodland inventory to cover the whole of England. The ETAP is our ambitious vision for trees in England, providing a framework for delivering our commitment to at least treble tree planting rates in England by the end of this Parliament, reflecting England’s contribution to meeting the UK’s overall target of planting 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this Parliament.

It is supported by over £500 million from the Nature for Climate Fund, including the additional £124 million announced as part of the Net Zero Strategy, ensuring total spend of more than £750 million by 2025 on peat restoration, woodland creation, and management – above and beyond what was promised in the manifesto.

For 2021/22, £250k will be used to map smaller ancient woodland sites of 0.25 hectares for Herefordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxford, Surrey, and will also specifically create a Long-Established Woodland layer for the whole of England. Plans for the next stage of the project in 2022/23 will be developed in the new year, with the support of Natural England, Woodland Trust, and local partners.