The Independent Panel on Forestry set up in March of this year to advise Government on forestry and woodland policy, released a progress report yesterday outlining their current thinking on the future of our forested estates.

The BMC welcomes the report and the sentiment behind the key statements but hopes that this will translate into real action and hopes that the Panel fully recognises that the free and accessible nature of the public forest estate remains one of its biggest attractions.

The Panel see for example, a continuing role for a national public forest estate in England, setting out a broad vision of providing a wider range of benefits to more people. However, they also state that ‘access already comes at a cost, and that greater or enhanced access will inevitably cost more’.

The Panel will also explore the role of not just the public forest estate but of all woodlands, including those in other ownerships, in delivering more for society, the environment and the economy.

At the start of the year, the BMC collated a list of climbing crags which are situated within the Forestry Commission Estate. In doing this, it highlighted the number of crags that are also situated in privately owned woodlands and those which are on private land but to which access is currently gained through the Forestry Commission Estate. It is essential that the Panel, who are looking into ‘how recreational benefits can be increased in the 80% of woodland not in the public forest estate….through incentives’ work alongside those representative organisations like the BMC who have experience in working with private landowners to develop good, workable management regimes for public access and recreation.

The report also welcomes the Government’s ambition, shared by all political parties, to create more woodland in England. The BMC whilst supporting this vision hopes the advice to landowners in the future will be clear; it is important to use the right tree, in the right place, to achieve the desired goal. Our woodlands and forests are equally important as our wild, open spaces which make up the diverse English landscapes in which we enjoy exploring and undertaking our activities.

The report recognises that the work so far, particularly in relation to the woods and forests outside of the public forest estate needs further development before the final recommendations are made next spring. The BMC will continue to press for the safeguard of access to our public estates and to press for access to those privately owned forests and woodlands where the recreational opportunities, including climbing, have not yet been fully explored.
 

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