For the third year running the “Greenest Government” shows its true colours (hint: not very green)

The Government’s performance in protecting our environment has come under scrutiny in Nature Check 2013,¹ a report published today by 41 environmental organisations, under the umbrella of Wildlife and Countryside Link.²

The proportion of nature commitments on which the Government is failing has steadily worsened during its term in office.  Areas in which it is falling short include protection of the Green Belt, farm animal welfare, designating the full network of Marine Conservation Zones and reversing wildlife declines.

The Nature Check report urges the Government to recognise the value of nature to both the economy and to the people of Britain.  Alongside the report, a ComRes survey of more than 2,000 adults has been published, which reveals the love people have for the British countryside.³ 

Notably, 83% of British adults believe the natural environment should be protected at all costs, while only a quarter think the Government is doing enough to protect our landscapes and wildlife.

The survey shows that the majority of people want politicians to do more to protect nature and the countryside.  The message from the public is clear – they want healthy seas and landscapes providing rich habitats for thriving wildlife.  But sadly, most species in this country are in decline.

We’re told an economy in crisis is a higher priority than nature in crisis.  Yet the Government is missing a huge opportunity – a healthy environment helps the economy and enhances people’s health and wellbeing.

Our wetlands alone provide a home for millions of migrating birds and other wildlife, but they also give us £350 million worth of flood protection a year through storing rainwater that would otherwise run off our roads and fields into our towns.  Without wetlands, the cost of resulting flood damage would need to be met by businesses and Government and passed on to the public through higher prices and higher taxes.

The report rates four of the Government’s commitments to the natural environment as green (good progress), with 12 amber (moderate progress) and nine red (failing).  Of the commitments which were rated in last year’s report, 20% have got worse and only 10% have improved.

The ComRes survey shows the personal value of the environment to people in Britain, alongside their view of the Government’s performance. Findings include:

Regarding the environment:
• 91% of people agree we should improve the condition of the natural environment for future generations.
• 85% agree the natural environment boosts their quality of life.

Regarding the Government:
• 21% agree the current Government is the ‘greenest Government ever’.
• 28% agree the Government is taking the right steps to leave the natural environment in a better condition for future generations

The report Nature Check 2013 and the ComRes Countryside Survey, both published on 19 November 2013, are available online www.wcl.org.uk/nature-check.asp.

Multimedia available: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8cvv8kb4m6tbp76/qj5vua2LPd?n=112572258.

Notes
1. Nature Check 2013 is an analysis of the Government’s delivery against 25 of its natural environment commitments.  The report found:
Good progress on Common Fisheries Policy, the Government’s response to ash dieback and its global leadership on protection of elephants, rhinos and whales.
Moderate progress on water and agriculture policies, including the Water Bill and reforms to the Common Agriculture Policy.  Many policies are rated amber pending certainty on what’s happening to them – for example the welcome recent developments on wildlife trafficking are tempered by a lack of commitment to long-term funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.  There is an opportunity for good progress in many of these areas.
Failure to implement the Biodiversity Strategy, provide an ecologically coherent network of Marine Conservation Zones, ensure environmentally-friendly farming and farm animal welfare, take an evidence-based approach to badger control for tackling bovine TB, protect the environment within the planning system and provide holistic flood control.

Nature Check 2013 makes three recommendations to Government to help it to improve its performance on the environment over the next 18 months:
• To provide strong leadership and a clarity of purpose that will  reverse the catastrophic decline in wildlife and reconnect people with nature;
• To enable the statutory nature conservation bodies fulfil their critical role as champions of nature; and
• To enforce the laws to protect our environment.

The 41 organisations supporting this report are: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation; Badger Trust; Bat Conservation Trust; British Ecological Society; British Mountaineering Council; Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust; Bumblebee Conservation Trust; Butterfly Conservation; Campaign for National Parks; Campaign to Protect Rural England; Client Earth; Council for British Archaeology; Environmental Investigation Agency; Freshwater Biological Association; Freshwater Habitats Trust; Friends of the Earth; Greenpeace; Hawk and Owl Trust; Humane Society International; International Fund for Animal Welfare; The Mammal Society; Marine Conservation Society; MARINElife; Open Spaces Society; People’s Trust for Endangered Species; Plantlife; Ramblers; The Rivers Trust; RSPB; RSPCA; Salmon & Trout Association; Shark Trust; Waterwise; Whale and Dolphin Conservation; Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust; Wildlife Gardening Forum; The Wildlife Trusts; Woodland Trust; WSPA; WWF-UK; and Zoological Society of London.

2. Wildlife and Countryside Link is a coalition of voluntary organisations concerned with the conservation and protection of wildlife, countryside and the marine environment.  Our members practise and advocate environmentally sensitive land management, and encourage respect for and enjoyment of natural landscapes and features, the historic environment and biodiversity.  Taken together our members have the support of over 8 million people in the UK and manage over 750,000 hectares of land. For more information see: www.wcl.org.uk.

3. The ComRes Countryside Survey was conducted for Wildlife and Countryside Link, and interviewed 2,042 GB adults online between 11 – 13 October 2013.  The survey report includes comparisons with a similar survey conducted by ComRes of 2,055 adults from 16 – 18 November 2012.  Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+.  ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.  Full data tables are available at www.ComRes.co.uk.

Butterfly madness!

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of adjudicating the Big Butterfly Race between the Hampshire and Sussex branches of Butterfly Conservation which marked the start of the Big Butterfly Count (20th July – 11th August) which encourages everyone to go out and record butterflies.

I hadn’t taken part in a butterfly race before – my butterfly watching is normally done at a much more leisurely pace, strolling around Trust nature reserves such as St Catherine’s Hill, Noar Hill or Pamber Forest. However, it was clear from the off that this was an altogether more competitive and serious affair.

Team Wood White (led by Nick Baker) from Sussex tackled Hampshire, whilst Team Glanville Fritillary from Hampshire (led by Matthew Oates) scoured West Sussex. Our task was to find as many different species of butterfly in 8 hours as possible. One point for each adult, and an extra point for early stages (eggs, caterpillars or pupae). My job was to make sure that Team Wood White followed the rules, and I needed to see every butterfly myself and be convinced of the identification for it to count. My counterpart at Sussex Wildlife Trust, Tony Whitbread, oversaw the other team.

Grayling. Photo by ukbutterflies.co.uk

We jumped into the Land rovers at 9am and headed straight for Browndown where our target was the Grayling. In true “Treasure Hunt” style we ran up and down through the site, making sure we first got the Grayling and ticking off a dozen other species on the way including Small Skipper and Marbled White. We’d seen 13 species in the first 45 minutes – great start!

Next we tried to spot the elusive White-letter Hairstreak which is known to inhabit a patch of Elm trees alongside a busy dual-carriageway in Cosham. No such luck this time, and so we headed north to Broxhead Common.

Team Wood White planning our next move. Photo by Martin Warren

Zooming up the A3, slightly frustrated at having wasted time not seeing the White-letter hairstreak, we suddenly lost control of the Land rover and the back end span out. Amazingly our driver, Caroline, managed to control the spin but we did skid across two lanes of the A3, span round 360 degrees and ended up on the hard shoulder! Shaken, but not hurt, we all checked ourselves and the vehicle (thankfully, all ok) and moved on, this time rather less hurriedly!

The Silver-studded Blue we were looking for at Broxhead Common proved incredibly easy to spot, being seen as soon as we jumped out of the vehicles. Another two or three species on and our next task was to search for the big one – the Purple Emperor at Alice Holt Forest.

I’d never had a particularly good view of a Purple Emperor before. As an arboreal species that hangs out at the very top of mature trees such as Oak, one needs to look to the sky to see it. Four or five times I heard the shout “purple emperor – look, there!” but each time I missed it. Then one of the team took a very blurred photo to show me. However, as adjudicator (I was taking it seriously!), I wanted to be sure to see it with my own eyes, so I insisted we stayed a little longer. I could tell the team were a little irritated as time was of the essence – but eventually I did catch a fleeting glimpse (although it was rather unsatisfying). I marked it on our list, and we moved on to Straits Enclosure, just a mile or so down the road.

Purple Emperor. Photo by hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk

Here our targets included White Admiral, which we saw just a few of probably due to the extremely hot weather. By this time we were all a bit frazzled in the 30 degree heat, but determined to press on. Then, one of the team stopped and called “purple emperor, just here”. This time, it was sitting on a Sallow leaf, not too high up, gently fanning its wings. The view was stunning and for a short while we were all transfixed by the beauty and majesty of  this magnificent butterfly, forgetting we were in a race and we’d already ticked it off the list! Nick Baker was particularly pleased as he’d missed it earlier and I know this brilliant view of the Purple Emperor made his day (and all of ours too!)

Harebell. Photo by plantlife.org.uk

We had now seen 25 species and our next venue was Old Winchester Hill to find Dark Green Fritillary. This wonderful chalk grassland site was full of delicate harebells, fragrant marjoram and swathes of scabious. We got the Fritillary immediately along with Chalkhill Blue and a few other species we’d already seen elsewhere. It was rather a shame not to spend more time on the Hill as the views were spectacular, but we were in a race!

By now we were running out of species, but the White-letter Hairstreak that had eluded us earlier was playing on the team’s mind and so we decided to drive back into the industrial edge of Portsmouth to try again. This time we spotted it within minutes!

Small Blue caterpillars on Kidney vetch. Photo by Butterfly Conservation

Feeling rather pleased, and now with an hour’s counting time left, we knew we probably needed a couple more points and so we decided to hunt for caterpillars of the Small Blue butterfly which feed on kidney vetch. As we were close to Paulsgrove Quarry we took a chance that there would be kidney vetch and possibly small blue caterpillars there. Sure enough, after just five minutes of hunting our target was found by Martin Warren!

Driving back to the meeting point in Bosham to confront the other team, we knew we had done pretty well – having seen an amazing 28 species and collecting 34 points.  But we also knew the Hampshire team was full of incredibly experienced butterfly experts and so we thought they may well have outdone us on points by recording more of the early stages.

All day both teams had been followed by the BBC South Today team, along with Guardian journalist Patrick Barkham and we had all made full use of social media to tease each other on twitter about our latest scores. Tony and I, as adjudicators, checked and double-checked the results so that we could announce the winner live on television.

The BBC iplayer coverage is here – 15 minutes into the programme – if you want to see the results!

I’d like to thank Dan Danahar who organised the whole event and Neil Hulme who designed the route we took. It was great fun and we all learned to love butterflies just a little bit more (if that was possible!). The real goal of the event was to raise awareness about our colourful friends, and hopefully to inspire everyone to get out there and enjoy wildlife. And of course, the State of Nature Report reminds us just how threatened and vulnerable many of our butterflies are, and so we all need to do our bit to help save them.

Do take part in the Big Butterfly Count over the next couple of weeks, and make time to visit some of the stunning nature reserves managed by the Trust or our partner nature conservation organisations.  And finally – please encourage butterflies and other wildlife into your garden by creating a wildlife-friendly haven at home.

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State of Nature – Time to take Action

The UK’s nature is in trouble – that is the conclusion of a groundbreaking report published today by a coalition of 25 leading conservation and research organisations. The State of Nature report launched by Sir David Attenborough and UK conservation charities at the Natural History Museum is a stock take of our native species – the first of its kind in the UK.
 
The report reveals that 60% of the species studied have declined over recent decades. More than one in ten of all the species assessed are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether; and this trend is worryingly mirrored in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and across the south east of England.
 
For example, the native white clawed crayfish has declined by 95% since the 1970s and Hampshire now has just one viable population left. The marsh fritillary butterfly, which was once found in wet meadows across north Hampshire, is now extinct and its habitat has reduced to mere fragments.

Of the three species of auk recorded as breeding on the Isle of Wight, only guillemots still have an active colony on the island, and this is the only place where guillemots breed in the south east. Puffins were last recorded as a breeding species on the Isle of Wight in the late 1950s early 1960s; while the island’s razorbill colony has been extinct since 1979, there have been a few reports of isolated pairs breeding since then, the last was in 2001.

The Isle of Wight has a diverse and complex geology with chalk, greensands and clay and gravel, and it’s because of this geological diversity that the landscapes on the Island are incredibly varied. With no feral deer, no mink and, perhaps most famously, no grey squirrels the result is the Island’s woodlands are unique, providing good habitat for red squirrels and dormice. On the rivers, the lack of mink means that water birds and water vole thrive. The Island’s open species-rich downland is home to 80% of the world population of early gentian, a plant found only on chalk soils in Britain.
 
But the Island is still suffering serious species declines. The greater horseshoe bat, grey partridge, redshank, spotted flycatcher, marsh tit, and small pearl-bordered fritillary are all in danger, and it’s already too late for species like the little tern, razorbill, corn bunting, duke of burgundy fritillary, pearl bordered fritillary, white legged damselfly, shepherd’s needle, pale butterwort, and burnt orchid.
 
Hampshire is incredibly diverse – the New Forest, the Solent coast, the iconic chalk rivers Test and Itchen, the chalk grassland of the South Downs and the heathland of the Thames Basin all give the county its varied landscape character.
 
But despite almost 7% of the land surface being protected, we are still suffering serious wildlife declines locally.  Breeding waders such as lapwing and redshank were lost from the Itchen Valley more than a decade ago and despite efforts to clean up our chalk rivers, phosphate levels remain dangerously high.  

There is increasing evidence that climate change is affecting the breeding success of UK seabirds.
 
Declines are happening across all habitats and species groups, although it is probably greatest amongst insects, such as our moths, butterflies and beetles. Other once common species like the lesser spotted woodpecker, barbastelle bat and hedgehog are vanishing before our eyes.
 
None of this work would have been possible without the army of volunteer wildlife enthusiasts who spend their spare time surveying species and recording their findings. Our knowledge of nature in the UK would be significantly poorer without these unsung heroes.

For some species it may be too late but it’s not all doom and gloom. Many of these declines are reversible. By using a joined-up, landscape-scale approach to conservation that engages land-owners, wildlife bodies and the public we can help ensure that wildlife recovers and starts to thrive again across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for future generations to enjoy.
 

Local Nature Partnership up and running

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Nature Partnership is now up and running and I have the great privilege of chairing it in its first year.  There are now 48 LNPs across England – all striving to implement the recommendations of the Natural Environment White Paper in their local area.  To find out about our work please visit the website http://hantswightlnp.wordpress.com/

Thanks Hugh!

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at the River Cottage Autumn Fair.

Hugh is a real advocate for sustainability (just look at some of the great things he’s doing at River Cottage HQ) and of course is famous as being the mastermind behind Hugh’s Fish Fight.  So I wanted the chance to chat to him about the Wildlife Trusts’ marine work and in particular our concerns about Marine Conservation Zones.

Hugh agreed to support our campaign for 127 MCZs as you can see from the photo!  Thanks Hugh – we really appreciate it.

To find out more about our MCZs campaign follow the link here.  You can help too by signing up to be a Friend of your local MCZ here.

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River Love…

Today we hosted the launch of Defra’s “Love Your River” campaign on the River Itchen at Winnall Moors nature reserve.

We welcomed Richard Benyon MP, Minister for Fisheries and the Natural Environment who spent 3 hours with the Trust and partner organisations including the Environment Agency, learning first hand about the river and the conservation work being done here.

Choosing the Itchen for the launch of the campaign was highly appropriate.  It is one of only 4 chalk rivers in England designated under European legislation as a Special Area of Conservation.  As well as being exceptionally important for wildlife, the Itchen also supplies drinking water to more than half a million people and businesses in south Hampshire.  Abstraction, pollution, development, climate change and the recent drought conditions are putting this precious resource under more pressure than ever. 

Getting the chance to discuss these pressures with the Minister whilst showcasing the habitat improvements, river restoration, floodplain management and educational work the Trust is doing was extremely valuable.  With the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Environment Agency we are transforming the river and its floodplain, developing a wild fishery and engaging and inspiring local people. 

We discussed how important projects like this are for demonstrating the importance of taking a landscape-scale, catchment wide approach to conservation – delivering multiple benefits for wildlife and people (also known as “ecosystem services”).

We highlighted the ongoing pressures to the Itchen from abstraction and pollution; we talked about the plans for 80,000 new homes in south Hampshire and how supplying water for these developments without damaging the river was going to be a real challenge.  The Minister discussed with EA and Southern Water their role in reducing demand for water and promoting water efficiencies. 

Oh, and we saw kingfishers, water voles, wild brown trout, grayling and my first marsh marigolds of the year! 

Read more about the campaign here and here and our work on the Itchen here.

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Local Partnerships – the difference between LNPs and LEPs

In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight we are working hard with a wide range of partner organisations to get a new Local Nature Partnership up and running.  We have been awarded £27k from the one-off LNP £1m capacity building fund to help us do this.

LNPs were launched in the Natural Environment White Paper and the Government “invited new and existing partnerships to come together to become Local Nature Partnerships” to create a vision and plan of action to improve the natural environmental locally.

Defra wish to encourage LNPs to:

• raise awareness about the vital benefits of a healthy natural environment;
• develop a shared environmental vision and set of priorities for their area;
• work at a landscape scale to improve the natural environment, for example, supporting Nature Improvement Areas;
• contribute to local plans and local development frameworks;
• help contribute to the Green Economy by, for example, providing relevant information for Local Enterprise Partnerships.

This is all good stuff and there is a lot of enthusiasm and energy in the partners who are looking to form LNPs across England.

However, when the Government say they want to “encourage” LNPs this is probably rather too strong a word.  The level of support and guidance given to fledging LNPs is limited to a share of the £1m fund (averaging about £25k per partnership – and remember this is a one-off) and the very basic information on just 2 pages of their website which I have linked to above.  Not much else.

Compare that to LEPs – or Local Enterprise Partnerships – the Goverment’s other big idea under the localism banner.  Similar in many ways to LNPs, LEPs are about local action and local people driving improvements in their local area.  But there is a marked difference.

Because LEPs are about the economy they are receiving a wholly different level of support from Government.  The LEP capacity building fund is £4m and on top of this there is a start-up fund of a further £5m.  Then there is the LEP Toolbox containing more than 50 downloads of useful guidance.  And where amongst all this guidance is there a mention of LNPs – nowhere!  There is a section on “Green economy” covering carbon, waste and water but nothing on the value of nature or the fact that LNPs exist. 

Whilst LNPs are being encouraged to talk to LEPs, there is no reciprocal arrangement.  No wonder that the fledgling LNPs are struggling to make meaningful contact with LEPs in many parts of the country.

Once LEPs are up and running, they can access the £500m Growing Places Fund as well as a further £125m released by the Treasury in January.  Designed to help with infrastructure projects and for supporting local businesses, these funds will help make localism a reality.

How disappointing then, that LEPs are not being encouraged (or even better, required) to work closely with LNPs so that their local plans can be integrated.  As environmentalists, we know how marginalised action for nature can be.  The way LNPs and LEPs are being set up just increases this separation.

The publication of the Natural Environment White Paper and the National Ecosystem Assessment in 2011 made it clear that a healthy natural environment is essential to underpin the economy.  There is now plenty of evidence that nature is worth billions to the UK economy – but this seems to have gone totally unnoticed by the Government Departments BIS and CLG. 

If LEPs are not being encouraged to consider the value of nature in the plans they are making, nor to make contact with LNPs, we are unlikely to see the kind of progress the so-called Greenest Government has said we need for a sustainable future.

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Reasons to be cheerful?

Most nature conservationists are feeling really depressed right now.  November was a month of doom and gloom.  Mark Avery and Miles King sum things up very well in their blogs, as does Tony Whitbread.  The recent actions of this Government in their desperate bid for growth – from distorting the meaning of sustainable development in planning to the weakening of the habitats regulations – amount to the worst assault on wildlife I have experienced in my 20 years in nature conservation.

What to do?  NGOs must stand firm and stand together – it feels as if we are the “last man standing”.  With the statutory nature conservation bodies emasculated and local authorities paralysed through budget cuts, there is nobody else but the voluntary sector and the Great British Public to stand up for nature.

Let’s not get too downhearted.  People care about nature and their local environment – and this interest is not dampened by the poor state of the economy.  Far from it.  The main nature conservation bodies are seeing their memberships continue to rise.  In the last twelve months the Wildlife Trusts have grown their membership income by an impressive 8.7%.  That’s what I call growth!

Wild Safari Playdays

Locally, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust has had one of its best years ever.  Not only did we celebrate our 50th anniversary, our membership grew steadily, we had more children and young people involved in nature activities than ever,  and we had a fantastic year in terms of achievements, for example: 

We doubled our land holding on the Isle of Wight, thanks to generous legacies, donations and support from businesses. 

In Hampshire, we won the prestigious Orvis Wild Trout Trust conservation awards for a major river restoration project on the River Itchen at Winnall Moors. 

We were awarded the Learning outside the Classroom Quality Badge for our environmental education work and record numbers of children took part in Forest School activities and attended our Centres.

Dexters at Noar Hill

Working in partnership with Hampshire Fare we had great support for our new economic venture – selling beef from our Dexter Cattle that graze our nature reserve at Noar Hill in Selborne.

These are just a few of my reasons to be cheerful.  We won’t let Osborne’s crusade to wreck the environment dampen our spirits.  We will fight them and we will show him that the people of Hampshire and the Island care about their natural environment. 

We’ll be working with the other Wildlife Trusts and other NGOs on the Defra review of the Habitats Regulations to ensure that the vital protection for our most precious wildlife sites is not weakened.

If you care, please join us and also why not write to your MP to tell them how important nature is to you.

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Water is essential for the economy.. but what about wildlife?

Snipe in the Avon Valley

Yet another publication from the Government today – the Water White Paper.  Could this be a plan for the recovery of our wetlands, rivers and the wider natural environment?

The Minister’s opening remarks in the Commons today started with how important water is for economic growth.  No surprise that this was the top of the list given this Government’s focus on the economy and little else at the moment.  

There are some welcome announcements in Water for Life however, including a commitment to a ‘catchment approach’ where landowners and key organisations work together on a large scale to protect and restore rivers and wetlands.  Whilst this seems a positive step forward, funds and support are urgently needed to make sure practical actions are taken rather than the approach resulting simply in more meetings and ‘stakeholder consultations’.

If implemented properly, a catchment approach can bring significant benefits for wildlife, ecosystem services and people.  Both Devon and Cornwall Wildlife Trusts are partners in South West Water’s Upstream Thinking project, which is addressing water quality issues by working with landowners to change management practices. Benefits so far include reduced fertiliser costs for farmers, and record web counts of marsh fritillary butterflies.

Taking a joined up approach is key: rivers don’t exist in isolation. Mountain, moorland, and upland heath provide 70% of the UK’s drinking water with 17 billion litres of water a day taken from ecosystems by public water demand. The benefits to investing in healthy, functioning ecosystems are clear. But we are still a long way from a totally integrated approach to protecting them. In fact, around 30% of the services they deliver are currently declining.*

An overarching framework for restoration of the natural environment is needed: one which recognises the interdependencies of land and water management. The principles the Government has set out are sound but will they succeed without a bigger and well resourced plan for nature’s recovery?

Helen Perkins at the Wildlife Trusts national office has concerns about the timescales mentioned in the White Paper, such as implementation of a new abstraction regime not due until the mid to late 2020s.

Helen says: “Water shortages present immediate threats to wildlife. Low water levels from both abstraction and drought conditions can trigger serious declines in species such as water vole, and compromise the breeding success of fish species such as brown trout. The long timescales and the piecemeal way in which changes will be introduced is a concern. With the drought situation currently unfolding, action is needed now.”

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Forestry Panel report … like a curate’s egg – good in parts

The Independent Forestry Panel published its interim report today.  Whilst I can’t see this commanding anything like the level of media coverage that the proposed forests sell-off did, it is nevertheless an important milestone.

In our national press release, Paul Wilkinson, Head of Living Landscape for the Wildlife Trusts emphasises the importance of the value of our woods, saying:  If the Budget recognised the full range and scale of benefits our natural environment provided there would be no question of the Treasury pressing for forest sales, or reducing the investment it made in the Public Forest Estate.  We have to bust the myth that it is a burden on the state once and for all.

The report does gives some comfort that the Panel have recognised the intrinsic value of trees and woodlands.  It acknowledges that the “value of the wide ranging public benefits provided by the Public Forest Estate – including access and nature conservation – far exceeds that of the timber alone”.  

Managing the public forest estate is relatively cheap:  the net annual cost to the Treasury is under £20m.  However, the business model is based on timber production and not on the wider benefits provided by woodlands and forests.  The National Ecosystem Assessment  estimates the total value of social and environmental benefits of woodland in the UK alone as £1.2 billion per annum. 

New Forest woodland

Frustratingly, the report seems to have conflated and confused the positive elements of trees and woods with the harmful elements of some aspects of plantation forestry culture.  Generic references throughout the document to the value of trees and woods to biodiversity do not differentiate between the richness of ancient woodlands and the relative dearth of wildlife in densely packed plantations.

Our response to the Call for Views pointed out the need to prioritise the restoration of open habitats such as heathlands and grasslands in places where plantations had damaged biodiversity – such as in the New Forest. There is limited acknowledgement of this point by the Panel:  “In our final report we will explore how much habitat restoration and improvement should be taking place on the public forest estate, and where, within the context of the wider landscape, it should happen.  This needs to include the costs involved as well as the benefits.”  I hope this is more than a sop.  

I am also disappointed that the Panel has yet to visit the New Forest which is the largest tract of semi-natural habitat in southern Britain, rich in heaths, bogs, meadows, streams and wetlands – as well as ancient woods and forestry plantations.  The report makes no mention of the New Forest apart from showing it on the map of England’s “woodland”.   As the New Forest National Park Authority stated several months ago: ”It is vital that any changes resulting from the Government’s proposals for forests in Englandcontinue to safeguard the special qualities of this much-loved landscape including the ancient commoning system that sustains it.”  Understanding the complexity and importance of the New Forest is a vital task for the Panel.  I hope they honour their promise to visit next year.

We have long promoted the importance of having a state owned and funded public forest estate.  The report appears to acknowledge this by stating that it wants “the ownership of the Public Forest Estate in England to be secured for the future”.  We now need to make sure the Treasury accepts that the PFE represents good value for money whilst at the same time ensuring its business model is fit for purpose and not skewed to any one use.

The Wildlife Trusts have been pressing the Panel to articulate the numerous and substantial benefits drawn from our woodlands.  Enhancing wildlife is not a luxury for our nation – it is an essential.  Woodlands are just one part of the natural environment and a vital part of the ecological network we need for the future.   Taking the right approach to England’s public forest estate could help us to redress the vast declines in wildlife during the twentieth century.

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