Here's a big sarcastic "WELL DONE" to Jackie - mobile hairdresser and inconsiderate parker of Suzuki Ignis, registration number Y847GDU.
Please note that the next time you park either partially or wholly across the entry/exit of our driveway, I'll be reporting you to the police, and I'll be telling them just how often you block us in/out. That might make you consider apologising for making my wife late for work, rather than just walking off in a care-free manner and saying nowt.
Yep, believe it or not 2011 is the UN's International Year of Forests. Not that anybody's told Caroline Spelman and her bosses.
Have just a scan-read of the IYOF website and you'll find that "The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests". Their tagline is "Celebrating Forests for People".
Delve a little deeper and you'll find the 2010 Report of the Secretary-General on Preparations for Forests 2011, a Report of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It's a long document that I don't expect you'll go out of your way to read, so I've pulled a few choice tit-bits for you:
"The International Year of Forests, 2011 offers a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of the challenges facing many of the world’s forests and the people who depend on them. Great success stories and valuable lessons on how to promote sustainable forest management already exist. The Year provides a means of bringing those voices together and building momentum towards greater public participation in forest activities around the world."
"Forest spokespersons or messengers: The secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests is currently identifying individuals who can use their leadership or celebrity status to generate media attention and help to raise awareness and support for forests. These ambassadors-at-large are being sought from around the world and would be invited to travel to public events to promote the International Year of Forests, 2011 and mobilize action for forests."
There are some recommendations:
"Further encourage Member States to promote awareness of challenges and success stories related to implementing sustainable forest management at the national level."
"Promote observance of the Year not as an isolated event but as part of a continuing process of advocacy and partnership to foster greater awareness and action towards sustainable forest management at all levels."
There are even some dates for your diary:
The European Union Forest Directors-General meeting is expected to be held in Poland in November 2011
The European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR) plans to organize its twelfth meeting in 2011
The Sixth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe will be convened in Oslo from 14 to 16 June 2011. High on the agenda will be the elaboration of a strengthened policy framework for sustainable forest management throughout Europe.
All this does make me think that our Government is lost in the woods. Seeing how it's stance is so at odds with the IYOF credo, I'm beginning to think that even our membership of the UN might be considered superfluous by our leaders.
There's still time to take action to stop the madness here - sign the petition and badger your MP.
"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." (Oscar Wilde)
I'd suggest that our leaders have a tendency towards the cynical:
England's forests: Priced at £74.5 million. Value beyond measure, of long-term benefit to the population and the environment.
Ronaldo: Sold for £80 million (AND he gets £11 million a year for six years). Value debatable, short professional life-span, dives a lot.
We live in a mad world when the biggest cheat in soccer can be sold for more than all of our glorious forests.
You can't even argue that they can't be compared - after all, they're both wooden!
Go figure.
Then go sign the petition.
329691 signatories so far, many more are needed.
Attributions:
The map is a screengrab from the 38 Degrees Save our Forests website, the Ronaldo pic is by Jan S0L0 and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license, pic source here.
I went to the Post Office to send a parcel.
On display was a modern representation of a bit of nostalgia... a Thunderbirds motion-stamp set:
The grown-up side of me started to walk away, but by then the boyhood side had rifled through the coins in my pockets and bought the thing.
It's cool. Get one.
Further to my post-election rant, here's a new prime example of why I won't ever vote for my current MP. He's just not capable of ever giving his own opinion, if he ever does respond he always relays back the opinions of others. He used the same spineless tactic when I emailed him about the wildcamping petition.
How he can claim to properly represent his constituents I'll never know. FFS, he can't even represent himself:
I long for the day when we have an electoral system that will allow us to vote them out as well as in:
... cherish the experience as best you can - it might well be one of the last times you get to do it.
In case you've missed the news, the Government is planning to sell all of England's national forests (see here).
There were times when the Tories were in favour of trees. Remember "Plant a Tree in '73"? As recently as last month they were promoting "The Big Tree Plant". Now it seems that they've done a U-turn as tight as the one in the photo above.
Thankfully there is great opposition to the sell-off. A YouGov poll found that 84% of the British public agree that woods and forests should be kept in public ownership for future generations (see here). Protests are planned. Battle-lines are being drawn up. Celebrities and leading figures are calling for the Government to reverse the decision to flog our logs and the land under them (see here).
There's an online petition too, it currently has 240,863 signatories. It needs more. Please sign up yourself and get others to do so. I'll cost you nothing more than a few minutes to help to save what should be retained and nurtured forever.
Posters etc. are available, click the following pic to get access to downloadable resources:
