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Written question asked by Nadine Dorries (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 July 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 July 2005. It was answered by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour) on Wednesday, 13 July 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Tree Cover

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the percentage tree cover in England was (a) on the latest date for which figures are available, (b) 10 years ago and (c) 20 years ago.
Answer

A national woodland survey is carried out by the Forestry Commission at intervals of between 15 and 20 years. The most recent country reports were published in 2001 and 2002 and these were based on fieldwork completed between 1994 and 2000. The results of the previous survey to this were published in the 1980 Census of Woodland, from fieldwork carried out between 1979 and 1982. The results are given in the following table:

National inventory 1995–99 1980 Census
England—Counties
North-east
Cleveland 6.4 5.8
Durham 6.4 5.7
Northumberland 16.0 15.1
Tyne and Wear 5.4 3.1
North-west
Cheshire 4.4 3.8
Cumbria 9.5 8.0
Greater Manchester 3.7 2.1
Lancashire 4.6 3.7
Merseyside 3.8 2.6
Yorkshire and the Humber
Humberside 2.6 2.7
North Yorkshire 7.3 6.7
South Yorkshire 7.4 6.7
West Yorkshire 5.2 4.6
East Midlands
Derbyshire 7.4 5.1
Leicestershire 3.8 3.0
Lincolnshire 3.2 3.2
Northamptonshire 6.1 5.0
Nottinghamshire 8.0 7.0
West Midlands
Hereford and Worcester 9.1 7.3
Shropshire 8.5 7.2
Staffordshire 7.8 6.2
Warwickshire 4.7 3.5
West Midlands 3.1 2.0
East
Bedfordshire 6.2 5.0
Cambridgeshire 3.6 1.9
Essex 5.3 4.1
Hertfordshire 9.5 7.6
Norfolk 9.8 7.9
Suffolk 8.3 7.4
Greater London 3.9 3.8
South-east
Berkshire 14.5 13.5
Buckinghamshire 9.5 8.3
East Sussex 16.7 15.6
Hampshire 17.7 16.4
Isle of Wight 12.0 9.7
Kent 10.6 11.4
Oxfordshire 7.0 6.0
Surrey 22.4 18.8
West Sussex 18.9 17.4
South-west
Avon 6.3 5.1
Cornwall 7.5 5.1
Devon 9.9 8.0
Dorset 10.8 9.4
Gloucestershire 11.2 10.0
Somerset 7.0 5.6
Wiltshire 7.9 7.1
Wales—former counties
Clwyd 10.0 9.1
Dyfed 13.5 10.4
Glamorgan (mid, south-west) 18.6 15.3
Gwent 13.8 12.3
Gwynedd 12.6 11.0
Powys 14.8 12.7
Scotland—former regions
Borders 18.5 14.5
Central 20.1 13.4
Dumfries and Galloway 26.8 21.1
Fife 11.6 10.3
Grampian 18.1 15.0
Highland 13.6 9.2
Lothian 10.4 8.0
Strathclyde 23.5 15.2
Tayside 13.8 9.6
Western Isles 0.8 n/a
Orkney 0.0 n/a
Shetland 0.0 n/a
Northern Ireland 6.0 4.9
Notes: 1. Differences in methodology between the two surveys may account for some of the differences. 2. Available breakdown by local authority relates to the structure in 1980 3. Northern Ireland figure published by the Forest Service.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
11175; 436 c1040-1W;436 c1040-1W
Session
2005-06
Related items
Tree Cover
Monday, 12 September 2005
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Trees