Forestry sell-off

[Mo]

See this Guardian article about the government's plans to sell all the English forests.

There is a petition against it.

The story of the Forestry Commission is interesting. In the middle of the last century it was very commercialised, plantations of conifers. Then, thanks to public pressure, amenity use became a factor. Most (AFAIK) are open access so that the public can wander anywhere, rather than being restricted to public rights of way (though for safety this is limited when they are felling etc.) Cyclists, horse-riders and others (husky drivers etc) use the tracks. Deciduous trees are planted along the paths to give an impression of mixed woodland and a more varied ecosystem.
There are commercial ventures like visitor centres and cafes which are well used, car parking must create a good revenue, bike hire, Go-Ape - an area with rope walkways through the trees, tree nurseries, Christmas tree sales.

It would be a shame to go back to barren conifer plantations. And there seems to be nothing to stop the new owner chopping everything down and using the land for something else altogether.
Delamere Forest, near us, is very well used and would be missed. There has recently been work done to restore the wetland habitat that was there before it was 'improved'.

[wendy]

Done

[foghornleghorn2]

[Gwiz]

Signed.
Haven't the forestry commission been selling off various woodlands (as small plots) for years? I very often see signs up "Woodland for Sale" while out and about. I understand (from someone who bought a plot) that when sold off in this way, part of the agreement of buying a plot, is that you may not build/develop or place any permanent structure on the area owned by you, and that it is for "recreational use" only.

You can bet your last sixpence, that there won't be any such clause in the wholesale flog off the news article is talking of though!

[jannie]

Whilst I do not agree with the proposed sell off...and have signed the petition..there is a reason why this will probably go ahead...PHYTOPHTHORA RAMORUM...this fungus has devastated the forests that surround our valleys...we now have forests walks with no trees ..and as this fungus comtaminates the ground for at least 10 years and is capable of destroying any tree or plant it infects, the forestry commission cannot replant ..their proposal is to offer land owners large cash sums to plant mixed forests on their land and to fund a fencing programme to establish them....they have to find this money somewhere because if they don't ...the speed that this fungus is sweeping Britain....we will have no forests left anyway We should all be screaming at our MP's to make the goverment invest in research to beat this dreadful fungus..
This is a photo of an area that was all forest 6 weeks ago...

[kattcollins]

I lived in the forest of dean for a while and my brother still lives there now, they have been talking of selling off parts of the forest for ages and now they have: you can walk through the forest on the trail but if you dare to stray from that dirt track you could be prosecuted for tresspassing. The native foresters are angry, upset and up in arms about it as they have always considered dean to be the peoples forest that belongs to everyone as this is how its always been. its such a shame.

[Stef]

We went up to join the protesters in the Dean, stupid idea and I can't believe the local MP is supporting it so that 'native Forresters can own and cotrol the forest for the first time on over 1,000 years'.

Hopefully the Verderers and locals will get it together and fight it off. They will try, they were determined enough about lorry parks - failed because of non-local interference! Hopefully they/we can do better this time!

[Mo]

I had another email from the campaign today.

Our campaign to Save Our Forests hit the headlines this weekend! First our petition and an opinion poll - paid for by hundreds of 38 Degrees members - were reported on Countryfile, the Today programme and BBC 5 Live breakfast. Then a group including the Archbishop of Canterbury backed our campaign - making the front page of the Sunday Telegraph!

Our pressure has got the government worried. They've started a charm offensive, telling us that they love forests too. But right now, despite the warm fuzzy words, David Cameron is pushing through changes to the law. He wants to make it legal to sell off 100% of our woodlands.

David Cameron can only change the law - and sell all our forests - if MPs vote the changes through Parliament. That makes MPs a key target for our campaign. We need to make sure that our MPs are hearing from local voters.

Can you send your MP a quick email today? It is quick and easy to email your MP using the 38 Degrees website. You can find your MP just by putting in your postcode, and there is some suggested text to use in your message.

Please click here to email your MP and ask them to vote to Save Our Forests: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/tell-your-mp-to-save-our-forests

MPs will have heard about our campaign. They'll have seen our opinion poll showing that 84% of the general public want our forests to stay in public hands for future generations. Now we need to make sure they are also hearing directly from local voters. If enough of us email our MPs, we can push them to come out of the woodwork and speak out against privatising our forests.

Thousands of us voted to launch this campaign. We've spread the word by forwarding emails and sharing news on Facebook and Twitter. We've put up posters in forests, car parks and cafes all over the country. Now we've got over 175,000 signatures on our petition. And that number is rising fast!

[Steve the Gas]

Done

Beware peeps - you have to put addy in full from the auto response from my MP, by the sounds of it - it won't get looked at.... parliamentary procedure it said..... my ....

[Annie]

I was really dismayed when this was flagged up on the news yesterday it does not seem right to me. In Wales and Scotland I believe the selling of forestry is not allowed .

[Stig]

I thought the forestry commission was synonymous with barren conifer plantations! Do they do anything else? I think I'd prefer to see more forest owned by the Woodland Trust and National Trust. The vast areas of coniferous cash crop are not my idea of forest at all I'm afraid.

[Mo]

That may have been so 30 years ago. Now at least they plant decidous along the walks. And the trails are well used.

[Stef]

I thought the forestry commission was synonymous with barren conifer plantations! Do they do anything else?

The Dean fell foul of this many years ago, but they have been correcting the situation since. There is still a lot of coniferous planting and it is horrid, but it is also being slowly replaced starting with decduous strips along the walks!

Apart from the ecologocal impact this one irritates me as much as university fees. English kids/forests get stuffed where Scottish and Welsh kids/forests don't and English tax payers still cough up to give Scottish/Welsh kids/forests what their own kids/forests can't have!

[jannie]

English kids/forests get stuffed where Scottish and Welsh kids/forests don't and English tax payers still cough up to give Scottish/Welsh kids/forests what their own kids/forests can't have!

Not really fair Stef.....we also pay taxes in wales.. just our Assembly Government chooses to spend our quota in different areas.....

As for the forests ...in wales ..for many years..the FC has been planting vast areas of fast growing Japanese Larch.... most of which goes to provide timber for cheap fencing and sheds for the whole of the uk...the result of that is... it has provided an ideal breeding ground for one of the deadliest tree diseases known to man..and the whole lot is being felled...if you ever visit South Wales you will see the devastation that this market for cheap sheds and fencing has done to our once beautiful valleys.... They are starting felling in the world famous Afan Forest Mountain Bike trails area in March so will probably make national news then...
There's no funding coming from central goverment to put this catastrophe right...and it will be 10 yrs before the ground will be free of this disease for replanting anyway..
I think the FC wants to offload all it's forests before this disease spreads.. .. they've learnt a lesson here in Wales ..they now have vast areas of land that cannot be planted with commercial trees and they cannot sell..

[Stef]

English kids/forests get stuffed where Scottish and Welsh kids/forests don't and English tax payers still cough up to give Scottish/Welsh kids/forests what their own kids/forests can't have!

Not really fair Stef.....we also pay taxes in wales.. just our Assembly Government chooses to spend our quota in different areas......

Sorry, I meant it as a political moan, not a personal one!

Some of that quota comes out of my pay packet.... I wasn't fussed by devolution before, I was all for it. But the financial problems that are inherent in the system are now showing. Those problems are based on a relatively small population and the fact that organisational costs do not reflect population size. Basically a higher proportion of the Welsh or Scottish quota comes out of English taxes than the other way round purely because of the higher population density.

As most council websites all over the UK say "Most of the funding required come from central government" and at this time I am beginning to ask "Where is the English parliament?"

And I HATE how that makes me sound!!! I really do!