HC Deb 03 June 1985 vol 80 cc54-5W
Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate for England, Scotland and Wales respectively, the percentages of total woodland and the areas represented by (a) ancient semi-natural woodlands, (b) ancient woodland sites, (c) recent semi-natural and (d) other broadleaved woodlands.

Mr. Waldegrave

[pursuant to his reply, 23 May 1985, c. 507]: There is no comprehensive estimate of various classifications of woodland, pending completion of inventories by the Nature Conservancy Council. But: a census in 1980 by the Forestry Commission of areas of broadleaved woodlands over 0.25 hectares in extent indicates that there are in total about 547,000 hectares in England, 69,000 hectares in Wales and 136,000 hectares in Scotland.

Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has to the percentages of broadleaved woodland in England, Scotland and Wales, respectively, which are contained within sites of special scientific interest.

Mr. Waldegrave

[pursuant to his reply, 23 May 1985, c. 123]: The Nature Conservancy Council has provided the following rough estimates of the percentages of the total area of broadleaved woodlands that are within sites of special scientific interest: England 8 per cent., Wales 7 per cent., Scotland 22 per cent.

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