Library
‘Tell panel to keep forests public’ - 38 Degrees
Just a few months ago, the government abandoned its plans to sell England's forests, thanks to a massive campaign which involved a half-million -strong petition, thousands of emails to MPs and national newspaper ads. Prospect's Forestry Commission members punched well above their weight in influencing the outcome of the campaign.
But our forests could still be at risk. When the government abandoned their forest sell-off plans, they said they'd set up an 'independent panel of experts’ to help decide the future of England's woodlands. Now, the panel is up and running. They’ve said they want to hear ideas about the best way to protect these beautiful forests.
The panel has just started work. But it answers to the same minister who cooked up the plans to sell the forests in the first place. So, although the panel could make sensible plans for our woodlands’ future, they could be under pressure to rubber-stamp more sell-offs.
The public has until the end of July to answer the panel's questions about our woodlands. The 38 Degrees campaign wants to make sure it gets tens of thousands of messages telling them how much people love their woods, as places to play, walk, cycle, learn and much more.
Regardless of whether these sales proceed or not, union members are also concerned about potential job losses under the Comprehensive Spending Review, and the loss of vital research.
Can you take two minutes to answer the panel's questions now? A flood of messages will show the panel that the public wants forests protected, not sold off to private companies. 38 Degrees will collect all the answers together, and hand them over to the panel as a huge, people-powered message – protect our forests:
The questions the panel are asking aren't complicated and you don't need to be an expert to answer them. Anybody who cares about our forests can have a say. They're asking things like, “what do forests and woods mean to you?” There are five questions all together. But if you’ve only got time to answer one or two, that’s fine as well.
Useful links