Forest Vision: guest blog from Rod Leslie, former head of policy at the Forestry Commission

Last week's Queen's Speech did not include new legislation to secure the future of the public forest estate.  As Bishop James, who chaired the Independent Panel on Forestry, wrote in the Guardian (here) the ommission of the bill was 'highly regrettable'.  This will inevitably mean that debate about the future of our forests will rumble on until well after the next election. Today, I am delighted that Rod Leslie (who had a 35 year career with the Forestry Commission) has kindly written a guest blog offering a taste of his new book, 'Forest Vision - Transforming the Forestry Commission'.  

RSPB’s campaign against upland conifer afforestation in the Flow Country of northern Scotland in the mid 1980s was one of its fiercest fought and most successful. When the Chancellor abolished tax relief to forestry in 1988 it brought planting to an almost instant stop and left the Forestry Commission on the ropes.

So how was it that 23 years later massive public opposition stopped the Government’s plans to sell those same forests dead in its tracks ? ‘Forest Vision-Transforming the Forestry Commission’ published last Monday tells the whole story, and a remarkable story it is too.

At its heart is the extraordinary fact that the Forestry Commission accepted it had got it wrong and set out with a massive focussed effort to regain public confidence – not be fancy PR, but by changing what it did on the ground, for real.

A female Nightjar broods newly hatched young in Cropton Forest, North Yorkshire in 1981 photo R.Leslie

And birds – and the enemy, the RSPB – were central to that change. Even as FC and RSPB were locked in mortal political combat, FC started work on far reaching measures for birds. At the time I was GB Conservation officer for FC and also an admirer of RSPB so with the later Colin Bibby, head of RSPB research, I commissioned a range of research projects including Nightjar, Woodlark and Black Grouse with amazing results: both Nightjar and Woodlark have increased from long term declines and, most extraordinary, 18,000 hectares of Thetford Forest is now an SSSI and SPA with a management plan designed to maintain their populations. Although Black grouse still struggle in Wales, without the 20 year co-operation between foresters and conservationists they would almost certainly have been lost.

Whilst RSPB might like to see even more, the Forestry Commission has restored more lowland heath than anyone else as well as mires, limestone pavement and ancient woodland. In Scotland RSPB at Abernethy and FC at Glenmore are working together to restore our native pinewoods. Forestry Commission land is a haven of safety for birds of prey, the home of the resurgent Goshawk population and in 2001 England’s first returning Osprey’s at Whinlatterin the Lake District.

There is a bigger message from this story: it is about an organisation that turned around from confronting nature to working with the grain of nature, about using land for many things at the same time in our crowded country, timber, wildlife, people. It is the proof that the idea that the economy and nature must be in confrontation is fundamentally wrong. As RSPB Scotland confronts SSE over a proposed windfarmat Strathy in the Flow Country – a name resonant of the forestry conflicts of 20 years ago – it is business and politicians that should pause and ask the question: who is doing best, wind farming, GM, fracking on the one side, the Forestry Commission and companies like B&Q who have embraced sustainability on the other.  

Forest Vision is published today 2nd June 2014. It can be bought at the reduced price of £10 (retail £12.99) + £2.50 p&p from: R.Leslie. 8 Somerset St, Bristol BS2 8NB. Cheques to R.Leslie. For further information emailrodleslie@btinternet.com.

Why don't you have a read and let Rod know what you think.