Member

The Forestry Commission is well aware of the benefits of woodland and forestry to carbon sequestration, biodiversity gain, flood management, water quality and the management and protection of our cultural heritage that well-planned management and creation of forestry can deliver. Those benefits are inextricably linked with its core mission of planting and looking after trees; I question the need for them to be laid out separately. In reality, I fear that this amendment could create confusion and have unforeseen consequences in the medium to longer term. The UK Forestry Standard already incorporates best practice around these objectives, and is underpinned by the realities of the Woodland Carbon Code.