The role of the Forestry Commission

In their own words on their own website http://www.forestry.gov.uk/ the Forestry Commission (FC) is ‘the government department responsible for protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woodland and increasing their [sic] value to society and the environment’. Further examination of the website seems to reveal a public body with a strong sense of its responsibility to its stakeholders (UK citizens) and a commitment to leading internationally on climate change issues.

The website also promotes access for all and the recreational opportunities provided by its woodlands. It seems local communities can trust the Forestry Commission: ‘Trees and forests can connect with communities in many ways. We try to ensure that, when our activities may have an impact on a community or a person, we involve them as soon as possible explaining, listening and taking account of their views.’

Lord Clarke of Windermere, chairman of the Forestry Commission, presided at an international conference in London in November 2007 called ‘Forests and climate change; a convenient truth’. At this conference the director general of the FC, Tim Rollison, spoke of the importance of protecting existing forests and their vital role in mitigating climate change: ‘Taking action to reduce deforestation, restore forest cover and manage the world’s forests on a sustainable basis is essential and urgent.’ The Forestry Commission was complimented by Phil Woolas, UK minister for the environment, who said the FC was applauded around the world for its expertise in sustainable forest management and suggested it had much to offer as a leading organisation in developing ways to tackle climate change.

It seems UK citizens can be proud of what the Forestry Commission stands for internationally and confident that under its care Britain’s woodlands face a secure future.

As we now know, the Forestry Commission is in fact a major player in plans to obliterate one of the nation's woods. Click here for details of the proposals. Bintree Woods, 300 acres/121hectares of mixed woodland, would be destroyed, much of it young and recently planted. The area is a haven for wildlife and part of the Wensum Valley, a nationally recognised area of conservation. The woodland abuts the River Wensum itself, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The FC unexpectedly withdrew two very similar woodland sites near Thetford towards the end of the ‘Issues and Options’ consultation period in spring 2008. The explanation for this was that it was because of the sites’ environmental sensitivity. However, if the sites were environmentally sensitive why put them forward in the first place? Perhaps the strength of feeling in Hockham and Wretham (www.hawitage.co.uk) caused the Forestry Commission to back off? The FC has not given a coherent explanation as to why Bintree Woods was not also withdrawn.

Click here for a copy of the detailed submission to the Forestry Commission in April 2008 from Bintree Parish Council. Click here for the eventual responses of the FC chairman and director for England.

Ignoring its own commitment to ‘connecting’ with local communities, nobody in the four parishes that surround Bintree Woods has been contacted by the FC for their views on the proposals. This is despite the Forestry Commission having consulted Norfolk County Council about possible development of Bintree Woods as early as 1996.

• The fine words on climate change in the Forestry Commision website are simply that. It has no real commitment to its own stated objectives.
• If destroying an area of woodland which it holds on behalf of the wider public can help the FC balance its books it will not hesitate to do so.
• Pledges by Forestry Commission executives at international gatherings on forestry and climate change are just hot air. How can developing countries struggling to feed their populations see lectures about not cutting down their own trees as anything but hypocrisy when the FC acts in this way?
• In putting forward Bintree Woods for mineral extraction and landfill the Forestry Commission is breaking its own ‘mission statement’, and its evasiveness and responses to questions on the issue have so far been wholly inadequate.

If you want the Forestry Commission to look after the woodlands of Britain on behalf of the public and set a real international example, contact Tim Rollinson and Lord Clarke directly.