Newly elected MPs must champion woods and trees
Successful candidates in the 2024 General Election should recognise the value of trees and woods where you live.
Thank you to the thousands of you who urged your local candidates to champion woods and trees in the 2024 General Election. The elected MPs will make important decisions about nature across England over the next five years and the impacts will last for generations.
Putting woods and trees high on the political agenda is crucial. Trees are key to happy communities, to a robust economy and a healthy environment. They should not be a luxury. From boosting biodiversity and house prices to reducing pollution and even crime rates, they are essential to our daily life and our future.
Thousands of candidates stood in the 2024 General Election hoping to represent you. This was a huge opportunity to encourage those candidates, as your representative in Westminster, to see the value of woods and trees in our communities and beyond.
Thank you for asking them to champion:
- funding and support to help local authorities plant trees where they’re needed most so the benefits of increased tree cover can be felt by everyone.
- support for land managers to plant and manage native woodland.
- new forestry legislation to protect and improve the public forest estate for the long term benefit of people, wildlife and climate.
- new laws to better protect our most important ancient trees and ancient woods.
- a new Trees Action Plan for England which sets out the funding and actions needed to deliver for people, nature and climate.
Our combined voices have the power to make change happen and create a brighter, healthier future.
Read our manifesto priorities
See the full detail of what we're asking the new Government to focus on.
What happens now?
Your elected MP plays a crucial role in decisions about creating and managing woods, trees and other green spaces, from woodland creation targets to tree protection efforts. The decisions they make shape the landscape of our natural environment and impact the wellbeing of current and future generations, where you live and across the country.
We’ll work with newly elected MPs from all parties to keep encouraging action for woods and trees in their constituencies and on a national scale. Our All-Party Parliamentary Group for Woods and Trees is one of the many ways we'll engage with new MPs to keep woods, trees and woodland wildlife high on the political agenda.