Petition · past parliament · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Prohibit mass tree plantation on farmland

Closed 285 signatures

What the petition asks

Impose legislation that prohibits mass plantation of trees on agricultural land. Agricultural land should not be taken out of production for the purpose of planting trees. This includes ELMS tree planting schemes that take over entire farms.
Farms nationwide are being bought by large corporations who plant trees over entire farms to "offset" carbon emissions. This takes valuable land out of production, can increase the price of farmland & put farmers out of business by reducing opportunities to expand or invest. Monoculture plantations (often of non-native species) do not encourage biodiversity. This must be stopped, especially when there is evidence that well-managed grassland and rotational food production can be at least as effective as carbon sinks as trees.

Timeline

23 Feb 2023 Petition opened for signatures
23 Aug 2023 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 285
Status Closed
Department Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Opened 23 Feb 2023
Closed 23 Aug 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.