Planting Trees in England

Summary

Trees can provide a range of environmental and social benefits, and the government has committed to increasing tree-planting rates across the UK. In May 2021, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) published its England Trees Action Plan 2021 to 2024. This sets out the actions government will take this Parliament, in partnership with the private sector, the third sector and communities, to set England on course to at least treble woodland planting rates by March 2025.

To achieve the government’s tree-planting target, Defra has established the Nature for Climate Fund Tree Programme (the Programme). The Programme aims to fund the planting of trees to enable government to be on the trajectory required to achieve the target of 7,500 hectares a year by 2025 while also achieving additional environmental objectives such as improving biodiversity and air quality. It has three tree-planting projects, each of which comprises a range of different grant schemes and funds, and three ‘enabling’ projects, covering communications, increasing the supply of tree seeds and saplings, and promotion and engagement.

Scope of the report

This report evaluates whether Defra’s management of the Programme is likely to achieve value for money. The study examines:

• how Defra has implemented the Programme (Part One);
• how likely Defra is to achieve the aims of the Programme by March 2025 (Part Two); and
• the risks that Defra needs to manage to ensure the Programme achieves and maintains a longer-term increase in woodland coverage from 2025 to 2050 (Part Three).