Defra Tree Health Strategy Analysis

Defra has opened an England Tree Strategy consultation. This consultation will inform a new England Tree Strategy which we will publish later this year. The strategy will set out policy priorities to deliver our ambitious tree planting programme. It will focus on expanding, protecting and improving our woodlands, and how trees and woodlands can connect people to nature, support the economy, combat climate change and recover biodiversity. This will ensure that trees are established and managed for the many benefits they provide for people, the economy, the climate and nature itself.

We are using this consultation to invite stakeholders' views on how we can significantly increase tree establishment and woodland creation to support nature recovery, clean growth and the commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We also want your views on how we can protect existing trees and woodland, bring more woodlands into management, use them to support the economy, and engage more people with trees and woodlands.

The consultation document presents a series of questions; seeking responses through the selection of and prioritisation of multiple options (including scope for respondents to add their own options) and open free text calls for information. We also anticipate some written responses from key stakeholder groups to be submitted to the mail box which support the consultation.

All the responses to the consultation need to be analysed carefully and fed back into the design of the Tree Strategy.

Key objectives are:

1. Conduct quantitative analysis of the multiple-choice and prioritisation questions
2. Conduct qualitative analysis of the free text responses to the questions posed in the consultation document and supplementary written responses.