The Government has a manifesto commitment to ensure stronger protection for our ancient woodlands and the irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is recognised in our 25 Year Environment Plan.

In February 2019 we published the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which strengthens the protection of ancient woodlands by refusing any development that would lead to the deterioration of ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation package exists.

Whilst we do not distinguish between individual tree species, this now reflects the importance of strengthened protection of ancient woodlands, ancient trees and veteran trees, including ancient yew trees, and is a significant milestone in continuing to strengthen the protection of this irreplaceable habitat.

The Government remains committed to making sure that our ancient woodlands are adequately protected and suitably managed to provide a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits.

It was announced in April that the Government would give the Woodland Trust £210,000 to work with Natural England to update the Ancient Woodland Inventory. Having an up-to-date stocktake will make it easier for us all to protect this important habitat and the role it plays in the UK’s national heritage.

The Government has a manifesto commitment to ensure stronger protection for our ancient woodlands and the irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is recognised in our 25 Year Environment Plan.

In February 2019 we published the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which strengthens the protection of ancient woodlands by refusing any development that would lead to the deterioration of ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation package exists.

Whilst we do not distinguish between individual tree species, this now reflects the importance of strengthened protection of ancient woodlands, ancient trees and veteran trees, including ancient yew trees, and is a significant milestone in continuing to strengthen the protection of this irreplaceable habitat.

The Government remains committed to making sure that our ancient woodlands are adequately protected and suitably managed to provide a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits.

It was announced in April that the Government would give the Woodland Trust £210,000 to work with Natural England to update the Ancient Woodland Inventory. Having an up-to-date stocktake will make it easier for us all to protect this important habitat and the role it plays in the UK’s national heritage.

The Government has a manifesto commitment to ensure stronger protection for our ancient woodlands and the irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is recognised in our 25 Year Environment Plan.

In February 2019 we published the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which strengthens the protection of ancient woodlands by refusing any development that would lead to the deterioration of ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation package exists.

Whilst we do not distinguish between individual tree species, this now reflects the importance of strengthened protection of ancient woodlands, ancient trees and veteran trees, including ancient yew trees, and is a significant milestone in continuing to strengthen the protection of this irreplaceable habitat.

The Government remains committed to making sure that our ancient woodlands are adequately protected and suitably managed to provide a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits.

It was announced in April that the Government would give the Woodland Trust £210,000 to work with Natural England to update the Ancient Woodland Inventory. Having an up-to-date stocktake will make it easier for us all to protect this important habitat and the role it plays in the UK’s national heritage.

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and he is absolutely right. Much of what we need to do to tackle climate change and restore nature involves rewilding or natural regeneration. A growing number of projects around the country are already delivering vast benefits. For example, at Knepp Castle in West Sussex, agri-environment funding has helped to create extensive grassland and scrub habitats, with huge benefits for declining bird species such as the turtle dove and the nightingale. As he says, the new environmental land management scheme will be transformative, because it will make subsidies conditional on the delivery of public goods such as biodiversity, woodland and flood management. It really could be the big thing that improves biodiversity in this country, which of course means increasing tree cover and encouraging natural regeneration.

The Woodland Trust, of which I am a keen member, believes that we can increase the amount of tree coverage by natural regeneration. That seems to be the best way of doing it, so how can we incentivise that within the new environmental land management scheme?

In November 2018, the Secretary of State announced that we will launch a national Tree Strategy for England. The Tree Strategy will set out the Government’s vision for the sector for the years to come and will aim to cover both rural and urban areas. The Strategy will set out how we intend to use a natural capital approach to forestry to maximise the benefits trees can provide such as carbon sequestration, increasing biodiversity and improving water and air quality.

We aim to publish the Tree Strategy in 2020 following a broad and open-ended consultation to maximise sectoral engagement and gauge ambition outside of Government.