Institute tells Defra our environmental targets must reflect society’s need for timber

Response to consultation argues that environmental targets lack coherence and detail on delivery mechanisms, and fails to acknowledge the link between timber production and environmental recovery

On 27 June the Institute submitted a response to Defra’s consultation on target-setting for the Environment Act 2021, including a target for woodland cover. This was run in parallel to the Nature Recovery Green Paper – read our response here.

This response has been informed by our members, but also by our mission to be a balanced and impartial voice, representing professional forestry and upholding its values of high standards, evidence-based decision making and social and environmental responsibility.

Our key points:

• The choice of a particular target is largely political; we are more concerns with how to achieve it and the barriers to this, crucially the skills crisis
• There was a lack of detail/coherence in place and some oversimplification in the consultation, with limited mention of delivery mechanisms, particularly funding
• We strongly disagree with the definition of ‘wildlife-rich’ habitats as including solely native woodland, and neglecting the importance of bringing existing woods into management
• While this consultation may be focussed on nature, it cannot be ignorant of society’s critical need for timber and wood products.

We concluded:

While we welcome much of the thinking behind the woodland targets, the approach needs to be more nuanced if it is going to enable trees and woodland to deliver for nature. The messaging in the consultation is confused about the value of woodland for biodiversity, the relationships between the different targets, and the delivery mechanisms that will be needed. Government needs to recognise timber production as one of the benefits of sustainably managed woodlands and fully acknowledge and raise awareness of the link between wood production and environmental recovery. We need all kinds of trees and woods to address the environmental crisis – for carbon capture, for nature, for substitution, for society’s needs for wood products and not outsourcing our timber needs overseas – and this should be reflected in our environmental targets.