Below is the Woodland Trust's response to the Government's public consultation on the Natural Environment White Paper.
Dr James Cooper, Head of Government Affairs at the Woodland Trust, said: "We welcome the great opportunity presented by this White Paper early in the life of the new Parliament to secure the natural environment and the services it provides for future generations.
"The challenges faced both by the environment and society as a whole require a shift in approach from protection alone to a new one based on protection, creation , restoration.
"This needs to be accompanied by meaningful public engagement which makes taking action for nature a source of local and national pride.
"The Woodland Trust in particular welcomes the coalition's commitment to a National Tree Planting Campaign, and wants to see this spearhead a wider drive to create new woods.
"Identifying the mechanisms to deliver habitat creation and restoration should be a key priority of the White Paper.
“The Woodland Trust believes that a doubling of native tree cover, in a country with such low levels of cover compared with its continental neighbours, is vital if the UK is to tap into the proven ability of native woods and trees to deliver a wide range of key ecological services, such as flood alleviation, urban heat island effect reduction and carbon sequestration, simultaneously and for relatively little cost, at a time when value for money has never been more important.”
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