He also highlighted the obvious benefits of tress including that they reduce pollution and provide livelihoods for people and material for building. He said that whilst trees and forests are often described as “getting in the way of roads, airports or cities” that it was very important to hang onto our ancient woods which in some cases were thousands of years old.
He was critical of a plan to further reduce Smithy Wood to build a new service station on the M1 and he also mentioned continued threat to UK trees from Ash Dieback and issues with both Plane trees and Juniper trees. He added that miles of hedges were being lost every year to make way for farming and development which presented a risk to habitats.
Austin Brady on behalf of the Woodland Trust thanked all of the supporters and helpers of the trust and said that it could not operate without their assistance and financial support.
He said that where trees were planted they quickly became a tangible part of a local community and that research showed where they were accessible to the public they are crucial to wellbeing.
He said that we can only enjoy our woods and forests: “if they are still here” and that over 100 ancient sites have been lost to development in the last ten years due to climate change and planning decisions.
He added that people wrongly assume ancient woodland is properly protected, but it isn’t well protected by the current planning system.
He called for a redoubling of tree planting efforts in the UK and said ten years ago we were planting twice as many trees as we are currently, and encouraged Conservatives to help the Trust embrace a new stewardship for the 21st century centred on the ‘natural capital’ which trees and woods offered.
He explained the Trust was a £30 million + business and that it currently owned 1200 sites across the UK totalling 60,000 acres. The Trust spends at least £5.5 million per year on woodland conservation and has in excess of 500,000 members and supporters.
He strongly urged the Government to support the Trust and deliver on a new charter as soon as possible and called it ‘a new woodland culture and dialogue’.
Katherine Drayson from Policy Exchange was struck by emphasis in the Woodland Trust document by the strong connection between woods and people, but mentioned the inequality of woodland distribution in the UK.
On biodiversity she added: “If implemented properly biodiversity can help maintain habitats and create new ones”.
She also agreed with the Woodland Trusts’ call for a new green space valuation and said recent inventories provided basic data but much more detail was needed. She also called for additional data on all publically owned land.
She concluded that all new developments of parks and open spaces were welcome but that these needed to be properly maintained with saplings needed proper care and attention in their first few years. This was proving difficult in some areas because of cut backs to park services in some local authorities.
She said Policy Exchange welcomed the report and hoped for a quick response from the government.
Stanley Johnson said: “forests have been something I’ve been involved in for 25 years” and that now he was an “all-purpose environmental campaigner”
He called on George Eustice the Defra minister to fight off any chance of weakening the habitat directive in Europe. He also added that the government needed to offer protection to ancient woodland that this was impossible with the HS2 project set to directly affect 20 ancient woodlands with many more affected indirectly.
He said the government need to address these issues urgently and that the HS2 committee in parliament will investigate too.
He said his main policy ask to the government was to get a commitment to bring forward this bill to protect the public forest estate and also to have a careful look at HS2 and the environmental impacts.
He said: “EU directives to impact on UK woodlands” and added that biodiesel, which uses palm oil, was having a huge impact overseas, but said the recent outcome of the New York UN Summit was crucial with a commitment to reduce deforestation by 2020.
He was not impressed with the government’s refusal to look at this issue during the remaining 8 months of this parliament and said: “why can’t they find the parliamentary time?” He added it was similar to a commitment given to him by the Prime Minister to bring forward legislation banning wild animals in circuses which has also as yet not come before parliament.
Defra minister George Eustice MP paid tribute to the great work the Woodland Trust does and said he has always had an interest in trees.
In his own Cornish constituency he said trees often protected people from gale force winds and that nationally trees were an incredible important national asset with a proven positive impact on people’s health and well-being.
He said the Conservatives had “a great story to tell” about what this government has achieved so far in this area with 20,000 acres of new woodland planted since 2010 and 1 million trees planted in urban areas as well. He also highlighted how farmers could still benefit from the Rural Development programme.
He highlighted the risk to UK trees from Ash Dieback and compared this with Dutch Elm Disease from his childhood and said Ash Dieback took hold so quickly it surprised Defra.
He added the government was committed to taking forward to Woodland Trust’s recommendations but that they haven’t been able to do it in this final session of parliament before the general election. He added it was: “not possible to get it right and have a sensible conversation this close to the general election” because it was very difficult to get things done in the final session of a parliament.
Finally Cllr Neil Clarke added a local authority perspective representing both the LGA and the District Councils’ Network. He said many Councils were working with the Trust to provide high quality areas for the community.
He encouraged local councils to work together and said the LGA had undertaken strategic work on this area with Climate Local. He added that recent extreme weather events have shown the importance of the environment.
Finally he added that whilst housing on brownfield sites is preferable, where it does have to go ahead on some carefully selected greenfield sites that this can be well-managed and sensitive to the rural environment.
He concluded that it was rural communities that often had the most significant housing challenges but that working together with the Woodland Trust was one of the most important factors in achieving a positive outcome for all concerned.