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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical examples of agroforestry have been visited by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs staff in England, and what assessment they have made of whether, in the light of the fact that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have recently included agroforestry options into their rural development schemes, doing so would be an effective measure for England.

Officials from Defra and Natural England have recently visited an example of agro-forestry near Peterborough funded in part from organic and agri-environment measures in Environmental Stewardship.

This was a very positive and valuable visit. Officials will be exploring the evidence base for agro-forestry and how this measure might operate in practice within the Rural Development Programme. However, the budget for Pillar 2 is finite and funding agro-forestry may have opportunity costs for other measures.