THE “passion” of the public for woodlands has been highlighted in a report from the panel set up after the Government U-turn on forest sell-off plans.
In a progress report, the Independent Panel on Forestry says it is developing recommendations that will “increase the benefits generated from all forests in England“.
The Government put on hold a sale of 15% of the forest estate in February amid fury about the wider forestry privatisation plans.
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Reverend James Jones, who chairs the forestry panel, said in its interim report: “Through the 42,000 responses to our call for views, the public expressed their passion for forests as a place of recreation, to connect with nature and as a vital source of resources.”
Last night a North East wildlife expert urged the panel in its final report next spring to “bust the myth” that the public forest estate is a burden on the state.
The panel visited Hexham and Kielder in Northumberland to hear representations over Government proposals to sell off public Forestry Commission land, which sparked protest rallies in the region and across the country.
The Rev Jones said there was a “continuing role“ for a national public forest estate in England.
Mike Pratt, chief executive of Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said that the panel had to explain to the Government the true value of the North East’s woodlands.
He said: “If the Budget recognised the full range and scale of benefits our natural environment provided there would be no question of the Treasury pressing for forest sales, or reducing the investment it made in the public forest estate. We have to bust this myth once and for all.
“The net annual cost to the Treasury of Forest Enterprise, the arm of Forestry Commission England that manages the public forestry estate, is under £20m.
“Yet the expenditure on just one of the road schemes announced last week in the Autumn Statement (A453 widening between Nottingham, the M1 and East Midlands Airport) is £160m.
“You could have eight times the public forest estate and all its public benefits for the price of just one road scheme.”
The UK National Ecosystem Assessment report, issued in June, highlights the hidden value of nature, worth billions of pounds to the UK economy. It estimates the value of social and environmental benefits of woodland in the UK alone as £1.2b per annum.
“The costs to society of not investing in our woods and forests as part of our natural environment and well-being outweigh the comparatively small costs to the Treasury of doing so,” said Mr Pratt.
“These places provide substantial physical and mental health benefits, a natural means to counter flooding and important wildlife habitats.
“Just as we cannot be separated from nature, so forestry can’t be separated from the future of our natural environment.”
