YouGov poll finds 84% of British public agree that woods and forests should be kept in public ownership for future generations
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| Photo credit: David Levene/Guardian |
Damian Carrington
Guardian
The vast majority of the public oppose the government’s plan to sell off all or part of the publicly owned forests and woodland in England.
A YouGov poll found that 84% of people agreed the woods and forests should be kept in public ownership for future generations, while only 2% disagreed.
The plan has already prompted a mass demonstration in the ancient Forest of Dean, and an online petition organised by the campaign group 38 Degrees has attracted more than 164,000 names so far.
“Most British people want our woodlands protected for future generations and for wildlife. Yet right now the government is pushing through plans to privatise them,” said David Babbs, executive director of 38 Degrees, whose members paid for the poll. “The government consultation looks like it will ask the wrong question. They are asking us how the forests should be privatised. But most of us don’t want our forests privatised at all.”
Caroline Spelman, the secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, will be given the powers to sell land currently run by the Forestry Commission under the Public Bodies bill. In November, her minister, Jim Paice, told a House of Lords select committee: “We wish to proceed with very substantial disposal of public forest estate, which could go to the extent of all of it.”
Responding to the poll, a Defra spokesman said: “The interest this [issue] has generated clearly shows that the public care about the country’s forests. We do too and that is why protection will be in place. We urge anyone with an interest in this issue to wait for the consultation to be published and see our plans in full and not base views on speculation about privatisation.”
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