I was very concerned when the UK Government decided in 2010 to sell off England's public forests and relieved when the power of half a million people objected caused the Government to U-turn and keep the forests in public ownership.
The Government has set up a survey that will inform a new ‘management body’that will look after
England's publicly owned woods. The Woodland Trust is one of the stakeholder organisations that have been asked to respond to the 15 questions the survey poses. They are keen to make sure that their response includes the views of the general public on the important issues this raises, such as:
what you thinkthe new body should and shouldn't do?
Who should be part of it? And
Where should the money come from to keep your woods thriving and free to enjoy?
The Government's survey closes on Sept 25th. Tell the Woodland Trust what you think by 18th September so your views are included in ourofficial response to the Government'slatest plans.
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As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
WOW! I'm really glad so many people spoke up about the government's proposal to sell all that forested land!! Governments do (or try to do) some very scary things!
ReplyDeleteI was unaware of the UK government proposal and a bit shocked they would consider it. Excellent turn-around for all concerned I would say.
ReplyDeleteCan a non-UKer weigh in on this important topic? Sounds like Britain has it's own James Watt (not the electric guy, but a Sec. of Interior under Reagan)
ReplyDeletesage, you can certainly take part in this poll if you wish! From the Trust's persective we'd like as many responses as we can, and there's a tick box to say if you are a member or not. We are trying to encourage as many people to get involved in the Government survey as well as the poll, we recognise though that to do so requires more time and background knowledge of the issue and the debate that has been going on for the last 3 years which will put some people off, and be difficult for people based outside the UK to catch up on – but through our poll we hope to at least demonstrate the support we have in our response and give people who love woods and trees an effective way to contribute if they do not have time, or feel unable, to respond to the survey in full. Thousands have done so since yesterday but we need the Government to see that passion so clearly shown for woodland in 2011 is still there! Everyone can help us by at least passing on the link
ReplyDelete(www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/forestsfuture) too. Thanks a lot x
Great blog Juliet, thanks so much for spreading the word :)
sage, you can certainly take part in the poll if you wish! The Trust is trying to encourage as many people to get involved in the Government survey as well as the poll, we recognise though that to do so requires more time and background knowledge of the issue and the debate that has been going on for the last 3 years which will put some people off, and be hard for peopleooutside the UK to catch up on – through our poll we hope to at least demonstrate the support we have in our response and give our supporters an effective way to contribute if they do not have time, or feel unable, to respond to the survey in full. Thousands have done so since yesterday but we need the Government to see that passion so clearly shown for woodland in 2011 is still there! Everyone can help by at least sharing the link (www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/forestsfuture) too where they can. Thank you! x
ReplyDeleteGreat blog as usual Juliet, thanks for spreading the word :)
Good to find ways for the public's voice!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to reflect on the "Old World" public ownership if "woods" vs. that of America where tremendous amounts of land are tied up in State or Federal Forests - all managed in a variety of ways - with a lot of public support and participation. But then our history of this is relatively short too .. 200 years ago half of the country was still wilderness.
Sage - see Kaye's comment
ReplyDeleteKaye - thanks for your very detailed comment
Rabbits Guy - and your country is so much bigger than ours and overall more sparsley populated
Just been over to take part in the survey, Juliet. Thanks for flagging it up.
ReplyDeleteI am not there so my opinion is not valid. I do however, think it's a wonderful thing that the government is actually asking for the public input in this.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad the people spoke up and happy that the government changed their minds. It is important for the people to stay involved. Great post, have a happy weekend!
ReplyDelete