Expand native woodland
Create targets and greater funding for native woodland creation, including more investment in productive broadleaf woodland.
To deliver the revised policy outcomes and policies, a clearer and greater level of support for native woodland expansion is necessary. Commercial forestry targets should include productive, native broadleaved species.
As well as overall woodland targets, the need for a greater focus on native woodlands should be demonstrated by minimum (as a proportion of total) targets for the creation and restoration of native woodlands. This would demonstrate the Government’s understanding of the links between the climate and biodiversity emergencies and show that efforts to address the former will not exacerbate the latter.
For further information:
- Emergency Tree Plan for the UK, Woodland Trust, 2020, https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/ publications/2020/01/emergency-tree-plan/
