Tree-planting in England fell well short of targets in the past year new figures show, despite government promises to restore and plant new woodland across the country to combat the climate change crisis.
Only 1,420 hectares (3,507 acres) of trees were planted in England in the year to March 2019, against the government’s target of 5,000 hectares in the period, with smaller areas in Wales and Northern Ireland, at 500 hectares and 240 hectares respectively. The total tree cover of the UK is unchanged at 10% in England, 15% in Wales, 19% in Scotland and 8% in Northern Ireland.
However Scotland did far better, with 11,200 hectares planted, taking the UK’s total to 13,400 hectares, the highest level overall in the last decade.
Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has promised a national campaign of tree-planting, with pledges from the government of £50m for 10m new rural trees and £10m for 130,000 urban trees by 2022. Setting out measures the UK will need to implement to achieve the net-zero carbon target, which is shortly to be enshrined in legislation, the Committee on Climate Change said 1.5bn trees would be needed by 2050, equivalent to an area of 30,000 hectares every year, with 15% of crop land turned to tree-planting and growing plants for fuel.
The Woodland Trust, which planted half of the new broadleaf woodland for England last year, called for much greater government support for tree-planting.
Farmers in England face complex choices over tree-planting, because they get little support for it owing to the way the government has implemented the EU’s common agricultural policy. They are also uncertain over Brexit – the government has promised “public money for public goods” in a new agricultural system after Brexit, but there is little detail on how this will work and the new “environmental land management contracts” will only be phased in from 2024, which leaves a gap in the potential support available.
Abi Bunker, director of conservation at the Woodland Trust, said: “It will be a challenge, it will cost money, it will mean tough choices, but the human race is at a crossroads for our environmental future. To avoid climate breakdown, we have to act. If the framework is in place, meeting the ambition of 17% tree cover [for the UK] is achievable.”
The Soil Association said that the way in which the EU’s common agricultural policy has been implemented in England has helped to discourage tree-planting by farmers, and called for any new post-Brexit system to provide much more support. “At the very least, future agricultural policy should not disadvantage farms pursuing agroforestry,” the organisation said at a parliamentary event this week. “Agroforestry is not a short-term investment for farmers.”
Guy Shrubsole, trees campaigner at Friends of the Earth, which is campaigning to double tree cover, said: “Our government talks the talk on fighting climate breakdown, but these figures show that planting of new trees, and replacing those felled, in England is [near] a historic low. Trees are going to form a key part in getting the country to net zero emissions, so we need to see a huge improvement in how quickly trees are being planted.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our forest and woodlands are vital for providing timber, reducing flood risk and protecting our wildlife, which is why planting more trees is at the heart of our ambition to protect the environment for future generations. This is why we are introducing our new environment bill, which will include ambitious legislative measures to take direct action to address the biggest environmental priorities of our age.”