On a personal note, having a strange man rubbing your back always feels a bit odd but I could hardly walk yesterday afternoon and now, although I am not, in the words of Van Morrison, 'Laughing and a running hey, hey Skipping and a jumping', I am able to blog and respond to comments!

Yesterday the Guardian posted our comment piece on the real battle for our forests.  It is based on an earlier blog from here so won't surprise readers of this blog but it brings our thoughts, or some of them, to a wider audience.  And there were, yesterday when I looked, about 120 comments on it  - which are also worth looking at. 

What is this battle about?  Is it about stopping the Forest of Dean being chopped down? - no, as it never would have been.  Is it about saving our ancient forests? - partly.  Is it about saving the Forestry Commission? - it is for some people. Is it about maintaining public access to, and biodiversity in, existing forests? - yes partly.  Is it about giving the Government a bloody nose? - yes, for some people. Is it about maintaining and enhancing wildlife on state-managed land? - yes, partly. Is it about the Public Bodies Bill? - partly, but that is a much bigger issue which transcends forest.  Is it about NGOs wanting to get their hands on lots of land? - maybe, but not as far as the RSPB is concerned.  Is it about Big Society and how it might or might not work? - yes, it's a case study.  Is it about us, the nation, owning land? - yes, partly.  Is it about NNRs as well as forests, and about heathlands as well as woods? - yes, I think it is.

It's also about how public spending cuts affect nature - which we did make quite an issue in the run-up to the CSR in October.  Things might have been even worse were it not for those hundreds of thousands of voices mobilised by the RSPB - your voices in Letter to the Future

It's about lots of things.  And some of them are painted in shades of grey.

PS Note added later.  I see the Daily Telegraph has a piece on our and the Wildlife Trusts' worries about heathlands too.

 

Parents
  • Hi Carduus

    I (and many others) frequently visit a Reservoir managed by Severn Trent – on a good day sometimes over 100+ bird life enthusiasts gather with their bins to look at the latest rarity – I pay £2 to park – there are excellent facilities for education etc etc – a job well done!   The local pub benefits – as does the health of both dog and dog owner- That’s the way to do it!

    Question:

    I sometimes judge a profession by the ‘curriculum’ that the student follows – does (do) the Forestry professions study the spin-off subjects – both monetised and otherwise – such as “Marketing the Environment" - I wonder!

Comment
  • Hi Carduus

    I (and many others) frequently visit a Reservoir managed by Severn Trent – on a good day sometimes over 100+ bird life enthusiasts gather with their bins to look at the latest rarity – I pay £2 to park – there are excellent facilities for education etc etc – a job well done!   The local pub benefits – as does the health of both dog and dog owner- That’s the way to do it!

    Question:

    I sometimes judge a profession by the ‘curriculum’ that the student follows – does (do) the Forestry professions study the spin-off subjects – both monetised and otherwise – such as “Marketing the Environment" - I wonder!

Children
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