New risks to ancient woodland protection and net zero targets

Protection of ancient woods and trees is under threat, and so too is the ability of the UK to hit its net zero targets and act against the impacts of climate change, warns Dr Darren Moorcroft, CEO of the Woodland Trust. 

The Government's current proposals for investment zones could affect more than 125,000 hectares of ancient woodland and 40,000 recorded ancient and veteran trees in the council areas.

The Woodland Trust believes the proposals in the Government’s new Growth Plan will weaken planning policy, threaten existing wildlife laws and, if rumours are true, put a new scheme to pay farmers for public goods like planting trees, at risk. Soon, we may see the UK lose more trees, and plant fewer.  

Dr Moorcroft warned: 

"On the basis of what we’ve learned from Government so far since the mini-budget and the Retained EU Law Bill, this combination of plans could see the UK lose more trees and woods, and plant fewer at a time when we need to strengthen protection and ramp up woodland expansion to tackle the nature and climate crises. We are especially concerned about the protection of ancient woods and trees in new investment zones where planning rules would be weaker and recent so-called assurances have done nothing to allay our fears.

"These are unprecedented times for the environment on which we depend for our prosperity and quality of life. The very last thing we need is to weaken protections and create uncertainties for farmers and landowners who are helping to ready our countryside for the battle against the climate change ahead."

Weakening planning laws in these areas could put irreplaceable habitats like ancient woods under increased risk instead of protecting these crown jewels of the natural world. The current proposals risk breaking the Government’s commitment last year to strengthen protection for ancient woodland.

The Government’s net zero plans rely on getting billions more trees in the ground. The success of this strategy will be dependent on financially rewarding farmers and landowners for doing this, boosting nature and locking up carbon in the process.  
 
If the Government is to stay on target for net zero then its new planned Environmental Land Management (ELM) payments must support major increases in tree planting and woodland expansion. Delaying the introduction of ELM or focusing grants on area-based payments would completely undermine this, sidelining trees and woods in England and making net zero much more difficult to achieve.   
 
Dr Moorcroft points out that this is a rapid change in direction from a government elected on a pledge to improve the environment within a generation, and to leave it in a better state than they found it. He adds: 

"In May we warmly welcomed the Government’s announcement  to bring the majority of ancient woodland into active restoration by 2030, funded by ELM. 

"In August we again welcomed news that the Government would commit long-term support to woodland creation through ELM, giving landowners and farmers the confidence that they could rely on financial support for increasing tree cover. 

"The Government must urgently make clear it is still committed to these plans. If it doesn't, the danger is that landowners will hold off planting and restoration for fear that support may now not be available, severely hampering woodland expansion efforts. Clarity on the future of ELM, and protections for irreplaceable habitats such as ancient woodland in the investment zones, must follow swiftly."

Building resilience in our landscape to the impacts of climate change is fundamental. This year the Woodland Trust saw some of the most telling impacts yet of climate change, to both its ancient woods and new planting sites.   

Unseasonal storms battered the north, bringing down 80% of trees in some woods in the Lake District. Extreme heat and an extended period of drought scorched new saplings in the south east of England and, most alarmingly, killed ancient trees in fragments of temperate rainforest in the south west. This is the first time our staff have seen impacts like this.

Tree diseases and pests continue to arrive, thriving in warmer conditions and decimating our precious woodlands. Felling now happens on a greater scale to attempt to control the spread of disease, or to make trees weakened by disease safe.

Notes to editors

For more details on this release, contact media@woodlandtrust.org.uk or stevemarsh@woodlandtrust.org.uk.

About the Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK. It has over 500,000 supporters. It wants to see a UK rich in native woods and trees for people and wildlife.

The Trust has three key aims:

1. protect ancient woodland which is rare, unique and irreplaceable
2. restoration of damaged ancient woodland, bringing precious pieces of our natural history back to life
3. plant native trees and woods with the aim of creating resilient landscapes for people and wildlife.

Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 29,000 hectares. Access to its woods is free so everyone can benefit from woods and trees.

Trees and woods statistics

Why plant?

• The Government’s climate plans to hit net zero require woodland cover to reach 17% by 2050.
• The UK currently has 13% woodland cover, compared to the European average of 38%.
• Trees are essential to life. They play a crucial role in cooling towns and cities, cleaning the air, crop pollination, flood mitigation, wildlife habitat, and our own mental and physical wellbeing.
• Farmland and incorporating trees into farming systems is key to increasing canopy cover. It is estimated that currently only 3.3% of the 72% of the UK’s agricultural land area is managed under agroforestry.

Why restore?

• The UK’s largest forest carbon stores are our ancient and long established woods. Woodlands in Britain hold 213 million tonnes of carbon (in their living trees) of which ancient and long established woodlands hold 36% (77 million tonnes), even though they make up just 25% of all woodland.
• Only 7% of Britain’s native woods are in good ecological condition.
• Woodland wildlife continues to be in rapid decline.

Why protect?

• Ancient woods are home to more rare and threatened species than any other terrestrial habitat.
• Once widespread, ancient woodland now covers just 2.5% of the UK.
• Due to their complex nature, established over centuries, ancient woods can never be replaced.

Additional statistics and reports

Forestry Commission’s Key Performance Indicators Report for 2021-22, and Provisional Woodland Statistics 2022, show concerning trends.

• Government is lagging behind its target to create new woodland in England. 1,980 hectares of new native woodland have been established in the last year, bringing the total to 7,150 hectares since 2019. Given that Government has set a target for 30,000 hectares of new woodland in England by 2024, this leaves over 20,000 hectares still to be planted in the next two years.
• Work to restore irreplaceable ancient woodland damaged by historic commercial forestry remains very limited. Despite welcome recent commitments from Government, only 19 hectares are recorded as being in restoration during 2021-22, a decrease on the already low figure (67 hectares) for 2020-21.

State of the UK Climate Report – Royal Meteorological Society 

• This report reviews the changing climate and significant meteorological events of the year.
• This year’s paper continues to show the impact of global temperature rises on the climate in the UK, reaffirming that climate change is not just a problem for the future and that it is already influencing the conditions we experience on the earth’s surface.