Help keep trees rooted in the right place

Before asking for your help again, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you for your hard work. It’s been a hectic year and it seems as though everything happened in such a short space of time; Marine Protected Zones, Climate Plans, saving the Gwent Levels and Hen harrier debates. You’ve been absolutely brilliant, and we wanted to thank you for it.

So what’s next? We’ve just found out that the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Welsh Government are running a consultation which includes proposed changes they believe will make tree planting easier. Sounds good? Well no, not really. 

A gloomy conifer plantation on lowland heathland (c) Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

At the moment the rule is that if you want to plant woodland which is larger than five hectares (or less in a sensitive area such as a National Park) you have to let your Government know. They will then decide whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (or EIA) is needed.

EIAs are used to check the effect that any project or development will have on the environment. They are hugely important for forestry as they make sure that you’re planting the right trees in the right places and not destroying important wildlife sites. Vast areas of formerly wildlife rich peatland, heathland and grassland were lost to commercial conifer crops before this requirement existed.  

The consultation proposes increasing the scale of planting allowed before having to check its impact on wildlife with Government, and gives the option of 20, 50 or 100 hectares in England and 20 or 50 hectares in Wales, much larger than the current five hectares. The reasoning behind this is that the Government think landowners are worried about the EIA process and are deciding not to plant trees, so they want to make it easier.

Although this sounds fine in principle, we think it’s the wrong answer to a problem that isn’t there. The perception is that EIAs are blocking the creation of new woodland but they are actually critical for protecting existing wildlife habitats. This shouldn’t be about giving a free pass to forestry development, it should be about creating forests in the right place.

In fact, we think that the existing rules don’t go far enough. There is evidence to suggest that the five hectare threshold is already too high to protect many small habitats such as flower rich meadows, which have already declined by 97%.   Many of these habitats occur in small patches, less than five hectares, and could already be planted below Government's radar under current rules.

In the consultation document the Government have said that when changing the threshold ‘environmental protection will not be compromised’. However there is no way that they can ensure this within their proposals. Everyone wants to see more woodland created, in particular the RSPB – but we still need EIAs to make sure that it’s done in a way that benefits, not harms, wildlife.

Not quite a conifer plantation, but non native evergreens such as this Christmas tree can damage heathland when planted in dense blocks © James T M Towill (CC BY-SA 2.0)

How you can help

Defra has launched a public consultation asking everyone for their opinion. Please help by taking part to let Government know these changes would be a mistake. The consultation ends on Tuesday the 31st January 2017.

Key points you might like to raise:

• Environmental Impact Assessments are an incredibly important part of planning any new woodland and assessing its impact on the environment.
• We acknowledge that there is a drive for more trees to be planted, however, we do not believe that EIAs are the blockage in this process, and are instead essential to ensuring that the plantation does not take place on scarce habitats, such as flower rich meadows and breeding sites for rare birds like curlew. 
• The consultation document states that when changing the threshold ‘environmental protection will not be compromised’. However, there is no way this can be ensured within their current proposals. We want to see more woodland created in England and Wales, but not at the expense of other rare habitats and species.

Please also include:

If you are in England

• I do not agree with the option of increasing the threshold to 20, 50 or 100 hectares as per question three of the consultation document. If anything, the threshold should be lowered to ensure that poorly protected and unmapped habitats and wildlife are not harmed.

If you are in Wales

• I do not agree with the option of increasing the threshold to 20 or 50 hectares as per question five of the consultation document. If anything, the threshold should be lowered to ensure that poorly protected and unmapped habitats and wildlife are not harmed.

You can reply by sending an email to EIA.consultation@defra.gsi.gov.uk or by writing to

• If you are in England - EIA Consultation, Defra, Land Use Housing and Planning Team, Area 1E, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.
• If you are in Wales - Welsh Government Forestry Policy Team, Pillar H09 First Floor East Core, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ

Can you send us a quick email at campaigns@rspb.org.uk to let us know that you’ve taken part? We can then keep track of how many responses have been sent.

Even better if you can send a copy of your letter or e-mail to me - Vanessa Amaral-Rogers, Campaigning Communications Officer, RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2BR.

We love forests – but we need to make sure that we’re not destroying important areas for wildlife.