Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 96
Maintain Forestry England monitoring of new woodland compliance with UK Forestry Standard beyond establishment stage.
Conclusion
The reliance on the UK Forestry Standard to ensure the sustainability of planting in areas identified as ‘low risk’ could provide a proportionate risk-mitigation mechanism. For this to operate effectively it is important that Forestry England maintain its monitoring of the compliance of new woodland with the UKFS beyond the establishment stage. We discuss this issue in further detail below.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges that UKFS compliance checking is currently limited to grant applications and felling license assessments, and states it is considering what additional resources would be needed for greater woodland management oversight beyond the establishment stage.
Paragraph Reference:
96
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Forestry Commission has published maps showing parts of England where there are likely to be fewer constraints to woodland creation together with a short report that provides details of the data sets used to construct the maps.1 The Forestry Commission are working with Natural England to further develop these maps with additional datasets indicating potential sensitivities to planting. We plan to publish these updated maps in autumn 2023, along with a short report that sets out how they can be used to support the regulation of forestry proposals. This work will be promoted at forestry and farming events. Even in ‘high opportunity’ areas where few constraints exist, some site-specific features, such historic environment artifacts, may be present and a proportionate site assessment will be needed where owners want to plant trees or create woodlands. It is worth noting that much of the land outside these areas will also be suitable for planting although the constraints are likely to be higher. UKFS compliance checking is currently limited to grant applications (and any subsequent monitoring of the grant agreement) and assessment of felling license applications. We are considering what additional resource would be needed for greater woodland management oversight.