Today I went for a walk.

Today I went for a walk, the footpaths were open and if I had had time, I could have gone into the stillness of the woods with the soft paths, paved with generations of fallen leaves.  How long will these rights remain, though?  If you have a wood or a forest you love to walk through, maybe one near you or one you have visited on holiday or on a day's walking expedition, there are two organisations who have a  form for you to fill in, to tell the independent panel on forestry why the woodland are important to you... and there are only nine days left now before the consultation is closed..They say they want to hear from YOU. The Woodland Trust has one form you can access on  http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigning/our-campaigns/panel/Pages/forestrypanel.aspx?WT.mc_id=panel  and The Ramblers Association has a slightly different version at http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=117&ea.campaign.id=10747  They are thoughtful questions and maybe you will enjoy telling the panel what you feel about your woodlands... it's a great opportunity to really say how much they matter to you... and your family if you have one.

When is a victory not a victory....yet ...and what can we do about it?

    The huge public outcry against the sale of 100% of the public forest estate has been one of the most heartening events this winter.... but like the winter, which doesn't seem to want to leave us, neither has the problem. The government is still entitled to sell off 15% of the land by law over a four year period. I am indebted to  Save Our Woods for the following information.
    " The Coalition Government is able to sell approximately 40,000 hectares of land over the four year period 2011/12 to 2014/15 under existing legislation even without the need for the Public Bodies Bill. On a yearly basis, this is nearly TWENTY times what was sold per year between 1997 and 2010. These plans, as identified in the briefing note, are only “temporarily suspended"
      If they were left in charge for another sixteen years, then if my maths is right, it's possible they could dispose of around 50% of the land. Since a  hectare is absolutely meaningless to me, it sounds more like a refined person calling their dog, I googled  40,000 of them and found out that these are 98840 acres.
     There  is another problem, which is that, according to The Woodland Trust,  Ancient Woodlands aren't properly protected and there are loopholes in the law which need changing.You may know of woodland near you which has been lost to developers or quarrying or a new road.  They say that 850 ancient woods have been threatened by built  development over the past decade. They have a petition to sign and let's hope that this time, someone listens.  These woods are too precious to lose.

Vested interest... Ebook and audio book,"Where The Fox Goes". Christian family fiction about people trying to save their woodlands. at www.insideoutsider.co.uk