Analysis by environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth has found that some of the major institutional landowners in England have levels of woodlands over that is lower than the national average, which currently stands at ten per cent.

The organisation has produced a league table – the first of its kind – of the ten largest landowners, ranked according to the area of woodland they own… with the Church Commissioners (the investment branch of the Church of England) coming in last, with just three per cent of cover across its 105,000-acre estate.

The Prince of Wales’s 130,000-acre Duchy of Cornwall estate, meanwhile, has just six per cent woodland cover – despite Prince Charles being renowned for his interest in environmentalism.

In contrast, the Forestry Commission has 85 per cent cover, the National Trust 18 per cent and the Ministry of Defence 15 per cent.

Guy Shrubsole, trees campaigner with Friends of the Earth, explained that a lot of the country is owned by a small number of landowners, who “have a responsibility to better use their land in a way that helps address the climate and nature crises facing us all”.

Further analysis shows that there is enough suitable land in England for an extra 3.2 million hectares of trees, on top of existing woodland, without having an impact on priority habitats such as peat bogs.

Mr Shrubsole noted that restoring the country’s forests has massive potential in the fight against the climate and nature crisis, but the government appears to be ignoring the data showing how much land there is available for this.

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