Plenty of news today about forest sell-offs and lease-offs but here's an interesting twist. Some Natural England staff are coming together to offer to manage NNRs through creating a new company to do the management work. They may see their jobs at risk and this is a way of saving them. It's an interesting idea. But would it lead to any real savings in money for the taxpayer I wonder?
And 'Would forest sell-offs and lease-offs lead to savings?' is the question asked in the papers today too. As this blog said earlier in the week - it might not be all about money but it must be partly about money. We need to get good value for money from any disposal of our land (notice I say land not trees).
Will there be an FC staff offer to manage heritage forests similar to that from NE staff if the government presses on? And might there not be some value in combining these two bits of our land, with heritage value, in some way in the future?
A love of the natural world demonstrates that a person is a cultured inhabitant of planet Earth.
We should all join together to campaign against this sell-off, it's not a party political issue but one of common sence. The forest areas are already in the hands of the nation and it's people. It is not a politician's right to sell off vast areas of woodland that belong to us all. Is it fair that our forest is sold off, then we are asked to put our hand in our pockets to support the charities that will take over the management, good as thet may be. The saving to exchequer is minimal as compared to value to all of us who use this valuable asset. It's not just naturalist's who benefit but all hikers, campers, cyclists, dog walkers and many more. NO I feel strongly that we urge this government to re-think and retrack from these proposed actions.