Cheshire Wildlife Trust welcomes Independent Forestry Panel’s woodland report

Dec 22 2011 Chester Chronicle

THE Independent Forestry Panel (IFP) has recognised there should be a ‘continuing role’ for the nation’s woodlands – a view welcomed by Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

More than 42,000 people responded to the IFP’s call for views on the future of the public forest estate and the panel said the views have ‘helped inform’ its interim report.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust manages a number of nature reserves in the heart of the publicly owned Delamere Forest.

The IFP, chaired by the Rt Rev James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, also said all woodlands, not just those in the public forest estate, should be ‘delivering more for society, the environment and the economy’ in the interim report ahead of a final response to Government in spring next year.

The trust is now looking to the panel to explain to Government the true value of woodlands and to ‘bust the myth’ that the public forest estate is a burden on the state.

The net annual cost to the Treasury of Forest Enterprise, the arm of Forestry Commission England that manages the public forest estate, is less than £20m.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust believes this represents a high-value investment for a resource enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people in Cheshire alone, and millions more across the UK.

“In October the Government announced a £470m investment in the Mersey Gateway – that would cover the current annual cost of the public forest estate with all its benefits to our wildlife and public well-being, for almost 25 years,” said the trust’s director of conservation, Charlotte Harris.

The UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) report, issued in June, highlighted the hidden value of nature to the UK economy. It estimates the value of social and environmental benefits of all woodlands in the UK as £1.2bn per annum.

The wildlife trusts across the UK have been pressing the panel to articulate the numerous and substantial benefits drawn from our woodlands, with only 20% of the UK’s resource under public ownership.