Government set to sell off public forests…..no thanks!
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT.
The amount of woodland in the UK now stands at 11,200 square miles, 11.8 per cent of the total land area (This sounds a lot but the EU average is 44% so we still have a long way to go.) The Forestry Commission own about 2888 square miles of that and their estate was thought to be valued in excess of £2.5 billion in 1990. The government are set to change the law to allow for the sale of large tracts of publicly owned forests in England (they can’t touch the Welsh and Scottish forests.)
WHY?
Defra (The Department for Environment, Food, Rural Affairs) have been hard hit in the recent spending review and are required to make some 30% savings over the coming years. One way to do this is for them to attempt a quick and dirty asset stripping exercise in an effort to raise money to reduce the deficit. This has been attempted by both previous Tory Governments but both failed due to public outcry, perhaps this time, in such difficult times they will be succeed. The other answer may be that the FC has been around since 1919 and in need of a good overhaul, something I couldn’t comment on. What we can say is that publicly owned forests are only a very small percentage of the total forests in the UK, about 18%, the rest are already privately owned. Do we really need to sell off the last remaining in public hands. In our risk averse society surely a diverse portfolio makes more sense than putting all our nations forests in the hands of private companies. Once we sell these forest off we will never regain ownership.
One argument for the sale could be we no longer manage our other national resources like coal and oil centrally so why do we need to for our nations forests. The answer perhaps lies in the fact that there are so many reasons to go to the nations forests other than to chop down trees. Bird watchers, dog walkers, family’s and mountain bikers are just a few of the user groups that are flocking to our nations woodlands in ever increasing numbers to take part in all sorts of activities. Add to that the ability of woodland to act as a carbon sink, nature reserve and an incredible resource for education and you begin to see that the sale of the woodlands isn’t just about raising money and handing over the ownership to private companies, it’s more about the health and emotional wealth of the nation.
One of the biggest concerns for ordinary people, like you and me, is that of access. Lets face it, who owns the land isn’t going to impact on the weekly trips to the nations forest, but whether we are allowed to ride our bikes or horses or have a carpark to park in will affect us directly. If the forests are sold on the new land owners are only required to give access by foot to their property. That quickly leaves the blossoming mountain bike community, we who are so beloved of our new wealth of trail centre’s, in something of a sticky situation, potentially renegotiating access to trails that are already in place. Regularly ride your horse in a FC wood, possibly not with a new land owner as again no rights of way beyond that of the walker are stated in law. These issues are already a ‘big deal’ and that’s before you consider the new landowner isn’t required to maintain existing facilities or install any new ones. No more well maintained footpaths, car parks, cafe’s or toilets or possibly even use able roads.
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT.
Visit the website 38 degrees where you can sign up and help express your dislike at the forest sell off. Perhaps more importantly send your MP a letter expressing your concern over this issue. This isn’t something I would normally do but this issue could have far reaching consequences I don’t feel I can ignore it.
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www.teampickle.co.uk
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