Please see below for the latests news of interest to Tree Wardens and Tree Warden Coordinators, clicking on the green links will take you to the relevant section.
Future of England's forests
Suspension of forestry sales
Welsh woodlands
Localism Bill unveiled
The Big Tree Plant launched
Future of England’s forests
As soon as Defra releases the terms of reference for the independent panel to consider forestry policy in England, The Tree Council will be inviting representatives of all its member organisations to a forum to discuss a “third way” approach to the future of woodland currently managed by the Forestry Commission.
The aim of the forum is to come up with balanced suggestions for the role of the Forestry Commission and of the Public Forest Estate which can be put forward to the independent panel of experts that will examine the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England and report back to Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman in the autumn.
Mrs Spelman announced the plan for a panel at the same time as she confirmed that the public consultation on the future management of the Public Forest Estate had been halted – on 17 February.
“The panel will advise me on the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England, on the role of the Forestry Commission, and on the role of the Public Forest Estate,” she explained. “The panel will include representatives of key environmental and access organisations alongside representatives of the forestry industry. I will shortly publish its membership and terms of reference.”
The good news for Tree Wardens working in their communities to raise awareness of the importance of trees is that the reaction to the proposals in the consultation demonstrated huge grassroots support and strength of feeling for England’s woods and forests.
As Mrs Spelman pointed out: “If there is one clear message from this experience, it is that people cherish their forests and woodlands and the benefits they bring.” She also went on to say: “The Forestry Commission has itself acknowledged that change is needed and will of course be fully engaged in this process going forward, as I know they have many ideas to contribute.”
Suspension of forestry sales
The programme of forestry sales announced in the Spending Review in October 2010 is being temporarily suspended until extra protection for access and biodiversity is put in place, Defra has announced. Once this has happened, the sales will go ahead.
This only applies to the 15 per cent of the public forestry estate referred to in the Spending Review. It is not connected to the discussions about the future management of the other 85 per cent of the Public Forest Estate.
The temporary suspension of the Spending Review sales programme is a technical change to ensure that the right framework and robust criteria are in place to meet the commitment from ministers to protect the public benefits of the forest estate.
Welsh woodlands
Meanwhile Wales’ Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones has made a firm commitment to the future public ownership of the Welsh National Forest Estate.
In a statement to the National Assembly on 1 February she said there would be no overall reduction in the size of the National Forest Estate – but called on Forestry Commission Wales to adopt a more flexible style of management to ensure maximum public benefit from Welsh woodlands.
The current Welsh Assembly Government-owned woodland estate is 125,000 hectares, which is six per cent of the land area of Wales, and almost 40 per cent of Welsh woodland. Find out more here.
Localism Bill unveiled
The Localism Bill, which took its first step towards becoming law in December, could have considerable bearing on Tree Wardens’ activities and decisions.
The Bill has been published here and detail on specific measures can be found here. The Government has also published Decentralisation and the Localism Bill: an essential guide which can be found at: www.communities.gov.uk/decentralisationguide.
The Government says that the Bill, laid before Parliament on 13 December, contains reforms that will devolve greater power and freedoms to councils and neighbourhoods, establish new rights for communities, revolutionise the planning system, and give communities control over housing decisions.
Unveiling the Bill, Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: "The Localism Bill will herald a ground-breaking shift in power to councils and communities overturning decades of central government control and starting a new era of people power.”
Measures in the Bill include:
• devolving new powers to councils
• establishing rights for local people and communities to challenge to take over services or bid to buy local assets such as libraries, pubs and shops
• reforming planning by replacing the Infrastructure Planning Commission with an efficient and democratically accountable system for major infrastructure, enabling regional planning to be replaced by neighbourhood plans, with communities having the power to grant planning permission if a local majority are in favour
• returning decision-making powers on housing to local councils and communities through a new Community Right to Build.
Said Housing Minister Grant Shapps: "The Bill will end top-down targets. In their place communities with the vision and drive to build more homes will be given the freedom to achieve their ambitions, and this will be backed up with powerful cash incentives for councils that allow new development in their area.”
The Big Tree Plant launched
Tree Wardens are at the very heart of four pilot projects that are helping to get the Government’s new Big Tree Plant campaign rolling. Backed by funding from the Forestry Commission, The Tree Council is working with Walsall, Manchester, Newcastle and Plymouth to get urban communities engaged in planting and caring for local trees. The first project to go ahead was in Walsall on 2 December to launch the campaign.
There Tree Wardens, Junior Tree Wardens, local volunteers, the Forest of Mercia Community Payback team, Walsall Council staff and local councillors planted a three-acre community orchard that will form part of a green link into the city centre. Because of the heavy snow that cloaked most of Britain at the time, it was one of the few planting projects to go ahead during National Tree Week.
For more information about the Walsall project click here. In Plymouth the focus is on planting trees in streets that have lost their trees, then getting residents involved in the aftercare. In Manchester, Tree Wardens and the council’s Parks and Leisure Department are hoping to establish a new community orchard in a part of the city which is not very prosperous. The project is intended to involve existing Tree Wardens and recruit new ones. In Newcastle The Tree Council is working with the Parks Department, local schools and Tree Wardens to replace lime trees on a main road that leads into the city centre. There will be more on all of these projects in the next Update.
The Big Tree Plant is a five-year England-wide campaign launched by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The aim is to plant one million extra trees, particularly in areas that are currently deprived of greenery, go to www.thebigtreeplant.direct.gov.uk.
Launching the campaign, Defra Minister Jim Paice said: “The Big Tree Plant will use the power of the Big Society to plant trees in areas where people want and need them. Using the enthusiasm of local communities and the knowledge of the groups that know most about trees and their unique benefits, we’ll help create neighbourhoods that we can be proud of.”
The Big Tree Plant partnership brings together civil society partners and conservation organisations, such as The Tree Council and members like the Woodland Trust, Trees for Cities and Community Forests, working with Defra and the Forestry Commission. Funding of £4 million will be available to support planting by community groups in towns, cities and residential areas throughout England that would benefit most.
To apply go to http://thebigtreeplant.direct.gov.uk/funding.html If you already have activities planned, please add them here.
