Farmers, foresters and land managers, experts and environmental organisations, and members of the public are invited by government to give their views on the future creation and management of our trees, woodlands and forests in England.Continue Reading
The UK Department of Environmental Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a policy discussion document as part of their stakeholder engagement process in developing the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELM or ELMs). Government is seeking the views of farmers, foresters, and other land managers in its new proposals forContinue Reading
The much heralded report by the Independent Panel on Forestry on the future of forestry in England was released this morning. It is anticipated that the Government will take until January 2013 to consider the Panel’s recommendations and that the suspension on sales of public forests will be extended untilContinue Reading
Independent Panel on Forestry confirms it was politics not economics that drove the disposal proposal – there isn’t and never was a convincing financial case for disposing of our public woods and forests – says Our Forests.Continue Reading
Tommorow a major report will be released: The State of the UK’s Forests, Woods and Trees: Perspectives from the forestry and woodland sector. It marks the International Year of Forests in 2011. The report was featured in the Independent Newspaper today. The State of the UK’s Forests, Woods and TreesContinue Reading
The minutes of the latest Our Forests meeting are now available. Key discussion points were as follows:Continue Reading
No sooner had Our Forests sent out the press release and background briefing about the lack of any substantive response to questions under FOI and EIR procedures about the proposed disposal of our public woods and forests, than both Defra and the Forestry Commission sprang into life and sent inContinue Reading
Government fails to meet deadline to answer questions on forests disposal proposals. It is over three months since Our Forests sent in its submission seeking answers on the public forest disposal debacle, yet no final response has been provided, despite officials initially telling us, “we will be able to sortContinue Reading
Today sees the launch of a new ‘ginger group’ – Our Forests – with the aim of ensuring a People’s Vision for the Future of England’s Woods and ForestsContinue Reading
If lined up together, the area of woodlands in England that are potentially moribund would stretch 450 miles in length and five miles wide – the entire length of England.Continue Reading
In the Netherlands forestry is undetaken by the Forestry and Wildlife Service Staatsbosbeheer: managing 250,000 hectares of land for sixteen million Dutch people. It provides some interesting comparisons to the UK where forestry governance is in the spotlight.Continue Reading
In principle there were some good ideas in what the Government sought to achieve by reviewing the ownership of England’s forests. The Forestry Commission are a great public organisation and achieve fantastic results for a relatively small cost to the taxpayer, although we should recognise that there is also roomContinue Reading
I was interviewed for a programme on Deutsche Welle Radio to discuss the UK Government’s proposals to sell England’s publicly-owned forests.Continue Reading
Poll Results: 84% of visitors to my site believe that the State should own forests in England. The public consultation should ask “should we” as well as “how”.Continue Reading
Earlier today on Prime Minister’s Question Time, David Cameron was asked by Labour Leader Ed Miliband about his views on the public forest sale. Ed Miliband asked if the PM was happy about his “flagship policy on forestry”. Amidst laughs, Mr Cameron replied that the short answer was “no” addingContinue Reading