The government’s plans for state forestry are so weak and feeble that it is hard to understand why there is so much fuss about them. Maybe people do not realise that three-quarters of the English woodland that they love so much is already privately owned. And those private owners face strict standards on public access and recreation, environmental quality, and conservation. So why is there so much fuss about selling the rest?
People forget that broadleaf woodlands comprise just 8 percent of the Forestry Commission’s estate. The other 92 percent is farmland and conifer plantations, and it is hard to get worked up about who owns either of those. But according to business analyst Miles Saltiel in a new report for the Adam Smith Institute, just those parts of the estate – forgetting the touchy-feely broadleaf stuff – could bring in a rather useful £4.3 billion for hard-pressed taxpayers.
The endless acres of identikit Forestry Commission conifers are a blot on the landscape.
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