Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, today challenged the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) over what steps it is taking to protect the UK’s forests and woodland.
Gavin put the question to the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP, during the morning’s Questions.
In response, the Minister of State, Mr. David Heath MP, said: “We have set out our commitment to protecting, improving and expanding England’s forestry assets. This includes establishing a new body to run the public forest estate, maintaining a core of forestry expertise in government and supporting the forestry sector to improve its economic performance.
“We are also giving greater priority to plant health and look forward to receiving the final report of the tree health and plant biosecurity taskforce later this month.”
In his supplementary question, Gavin asked the Minister what the Department is doing to promote a closer working relationship between the Government and important local community organisations, such as the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.
Gavin said: “The Forestry Commission owns a considerable amount of land in and around my constituency, including on Cannock Chase and Highgate Common. What action is the Government taking, along with the Forestry Commission, to work more closely with voluntary organisations, such as the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, to improve not only access, but the wildlife management of these important local beauty spot?
Mr. David Heath MP said: “The hon. Gentleman has absolutely hit the nail on the head. That is exactly what we set out in the forestry and woodlands policy statement.
“We made it clear that we want the new public forest estate management organisation to work closely with local communities to improve the delivery of public benefits such as access, recreation and biodiversity. The Forestry Commission is already taking that commitment forward by developing a new package of community engagement measures.”