This is brilliant news: Victory! Government to scrap plans to sell our forests.
Thanks to all of you that supported the protests and the petitions.
Well done!
Posts tagged 'Woods'
Remember why they stand
"Through God's good grace, through strength of English Oak
We have preserved our faith, our throne, our land.
Now with our freedom saved from tyrant's yoke
We plant these trees. Remember why they stand."
Plaque at Bradgate Park
Some of these trees have stood since 1946, accessible to the public and surviving many storms and governments.
It's just plain wrong for the current government to even consider selling off land bearing treasures like these.
The petition to stop the immoral sale needs more support - please encourage everyone you know to sign up to the cause.
Click Here.
Half A Million!
That's a fair wedge of folk that want the Government to leave our forests alone.
If you've not signed up yet, click the pic above and get on with it - it's a doddle!
Irony
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.
If you go down to the woods today…
... 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:
