| New
native woodland The UK remains one of the least wooded areas in
Europe, with about 10 per cent woodland cover - compared to a European Average of 25 per
cent.
 The issue
- Over the past 25 years 600,000 hectares of
woodland have been created in the UK, but only 20 per cent has been with native trees.
- Despite grants for tree planting and for
encouraging land out of agricultural production there is a strong reluctance amongst
farmers to convert to woodland.
- Agricultural subsidies keep land values high and
make forestry unattractive for investment and the tax reforms of the late 1980s
discouraged new planting.
What we would like to see
- An increase in the rate of new native woodland
planting.
- A commitment by government
across the UK for targets for increased woodland cover plus direct support for the
establishment of new native woodland through incentives for planting to private landowners
and through encouraging the participation of the public and voluntary sectors in woodland
creation. (see our Millennium
Challenges for Government)
- A greater emphasis on the location of new native
woodland to link existing native woodland, to reinforce the character of landscapes and
improve the environment around settlements of all sizes.
How we will achieve this
- We will work with others to create innovative new
partnerships to create new woodland.
- We will continue to purchase and manage land for
planting and regeneration of new woodland and aim to have created a total of 3000 hectares
of new native woodland by 2003.
- We will establish ‘flagship sites’ for
the demonstration of large scale native woodland creation.
- We will continue to use UK origin and where
feasible local seed sources for the trees we plant and wherever possible we will use
natural regeneration
- We will lobby government and funding bodies for
new native woodland, in particular for support which recognises its wider environmental
and social benefits.
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