Woodland Crisis ‘Puts Climate Targets At Risk'

Failing to save our woods and trees will severely damage Britain’s ability to tackle climate change and is a threat to habitats, a report warns.

- John Ingham

The Woodland Trust says nature is approaching crisis point in the face of a “barrage” of threats.

Preserving our natural habitat can help curb carbon emissions and reverse declines in wildlife numbers.

But just seven per cent of native woodland is in a good ecological condition, says its report.

Ministers are planning for 30,000 hectares of trees a year to be planted by 2025 to help tackle climate change.

But Abi Bunker, the trust’s director of conservation, said there is “no success in hitting creation targets if our existing woods and trees are struggling and in decline”.