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<p>The Forestry Commission regulates felling of trees in England. Felling licences
are a requirement for felling, unless an exemption applies.</p><p> </p><p>The Forestry
Commission provides the best available information on the granting of felling licences,
illegal felling, and publicly funded restocking. These Official Statistics are produced
to meet the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics. Last year, the Forestry
Commission introduced a new felling licence online service, which will enable further
improvements to the collection and reporting of data on licencing.</p><p> </p><p>There
is no obligation for a landowner to fell their trees once a licence has been granted,
which can be valid for up to 10 years, so data on actual felling is not recorded and
there are no plans to do so. However, loss of woodland can be detected from the analysis
of satellite earth observation data, and the Forestry Commission already provides
statistics on the net loss of woodland area in England.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forestry-commission-corporate-plan-performance-indicators-2019"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forestry-commission-corporate-plan-performance-indicators-2019</a></p><p>This
takes account of the loss of woodland to open habitat creation and development. The
Forestry Commission is also exploring the potential to further develop techniques
to enhance the detection of tree felling and restocking.</p><p> </p>
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