Around 18 per cent of England's publicly-owned forests - which the Government had planned to sell into private hands - are to be offered on 150-year leases.
Environmental and countryside campaigners led nationwide protests against the planned sell-off, warning that the future of ancient woodlands could be threatened by developers or timber firms and that public access could be curtailed.
A range of celebrities, from Dame Judi Dench to the Archbishop of Canterbury, urged Ministers to think again about the sale, describing it as "unconscionable". And a poll carried out at the weekend found 75 per cent of those who responded were against a sell-off.
Now the Government's decided that the land won't just be sold off to the highest bidder - and wants charitable trusts, community and other local groups to take a role.
The consultation document calls for heritage and community forests with considerable public benefits to be protected, by asking charities to take them on. Forests with a commercial value will be leased to private operators, but public access and other rights will be preserved under the terms of the lease.
Ministers said they'd listen to all feedback before reporting back in the summer - and today the Evironment Secretary Caroline Spelman said it was time for the Government to "step back and allow those who are most involved with England's woodland to play a much greater role in the future...and we will make sure that public access is maintained, and biodiversity protected."
"We are not going to sell off our heritage forests to the highest bidder, we are not going to remove public access to forests - there will be strict rules in place to prevent that happening." Prime Minister's official spokesman
But the compromise means the Government will raise far less cash than it would have done under its original plans - with the value of leasing woodland estimated at between £140m and £250m.
The chair of the Forestry Commission, Pam Warhurst said the plans would require "a fundamental shift in our thinking and how we work".
The organisation was one of the few quangos to survive the Government's axe last year. Some of its functions are expected to be scaled back - but it will continue as a regulatory body, while providing advice on a range of environmental, social and economic issues.
However it'll lose its estate management role - and more than 80 per cent of its 1,200-strong workforce are currently employed in running the estate.
Staff numbers were set to be cut as part of the Government's efficiency savings - although today Defra said it was too early to say what the impact on jobs at the commission would be.
Downing Street played down fears over the future of the forests.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We are not going to sell off our heritage forests to the highest bidder, we are not going to remove public access to forests - there will be strict rules in place to prevent that happening.
"There is a consultation. We are going to have that consultation and listen to people's views and then come to some conclusions."
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