English Tree Strategy consultation launched: Friends of the Earth challenges lack of target
- Strategy will be used to decide how the £640 million ‘nature for climate fund’ will be spent to deliver on tree planting commitments
- Friends of the Earth is campaigning to double tree cover as part of the fight against climate and nature breakdown
Commenting on the lack of targets contained in the consultation documents, Guy Shrubsole, trees campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
"The draft England Tree Strategy does not set a tree target for England, and the measures it proposes would at best raise England's woodland cover from only 10% currently to just 12% by 2050 which makes this woefully inadequate.
“A strategy without a target is pointless and it’s a strange refusal from government to fail to set one. Trees capture planet-wrecking emissions from the atmosphere so it’s even more perplexing that the draft lacks ambition and fails to match the scale of the climate challenge.
“We have more than enough suitable land in England to double tree cover, yet the government appears to be saying England should hope for the best and rely on devolved nations doing more.
“Friends of the Earth is calling on the government for nothing less than a doubling of UK tree cover. This is an unmissable opportunity to help fix the climate emergency and make more space for our rapidly declining nature.”
ENDS