Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of how many trees were killed by (a) Phytophthora austrocedrae, (b) Phytophthora kernoviae, (c) Phytophthora lateralis, (d) Phytophthora ramorum and (e) Pine tree lappet moth (Dendrolimus pini) for each of the last five years for which figures are available. [170722]

George Eustice, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for farming, food and marine environment: No monitoring of individual tree deaths that could be directly attributed to the pests and pathogens listed is carried out by DEFRA or the Forestry Commission.

Many trees that have been affected by pests and diseases will be felled long before they finally die and it is often the case that trees that do die have been affected by a combination of factors over a long period. For example, a tree that suffers repeated defoliation may succumb to other environmental factors. This means that it would be very difficult to attribute the death to a single factor. Additionally, in some cases many more trees can be felled as a result of control measures than as a result of the pest or disease.

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