Member News
9th February 2010
The Woodland Trust writes for ePolitix.com ahead of Labour MP Paddy Tipping's Westminster Hall debate on native woodland cover.
Paddy Tipping's Westminster Hall debate on native woodland cover is timely given the growing publicity given to this agenda following the publication of the Read Report and the Low Carbon Transition Plan, both of which called for increased woodland creation across the UK.
At the Woodland Trust we want to see a doubling of native woodland cover in the next 50 years. Woods and trees matter to everyone – woodland has a vital role to play in improving our quality of life, adapting nature and people to climate change, managing the flow and quality of water, mitigating air pollution and supporting sustainable agriculture. A world without trees would be bleak and unimaginable.
Regrettably, the UK remains one of the least wooded regions in Europe with average cover of 12 per cent compared to the European figure of 44 per cent. In England that figure is only 8.6 per cent of which only 5.8 per cent is native broadleaved woodland. Despite this the levels of woodland creation have halved in the last six years.
Doubling native woodland cover will require political leadership to harness the potential of the public, private and charitable sectors. Going forward the Trust wants all the main parties to pursue new native woodland creation by committing to the following actions in the next Parliament:
- Adopt a target of doubling native woodland cover and bring together the public, private and voluntary sectors to make this a reality.
- Enable every child to plant trees and engage with the natural world as part of their formal education to develop rounded citizens equipped for 21st century challenges.
- Provide planning guidance which makes provision for the creation of new native woods within walking distance of where people live.
- Offer incentives to encourage private landowners to plant trees.
Article Comments
Doubling native woodland cover will require political leadership to become more informed of the work of the private, public and charitable sectors.
Keep up the pressure !!
Eoin Cox
9th Feb 2010 at 12:41 pm
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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