Save Sherwood Forest - Fears for county woodland as more cash axed (Sherwood Pines)

MAJOR spending cuts announced by the Forestry Commission will have significant effects on Notts' woodlands, campaigners claim.

The Government cut the commission's funding by 25 per cent as part of its Comprehensive Spending Review. Now, it has been announced that 250 jobs will go nationally and services will be taken further away from the communities they serve.

In Notts, the Forestry Services office at Sherwood Pines will close, with grants to be administrated more centrally.

The Forestry Enterprise office at Sherwood survives but becomes responsible for a much larger area, including Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and the Lincolnshire coast.

Campaigners say this means staff will lose touch with local farmers and landowners, while woodland in private ownership will deteriorate and public access could be lost.

Paddy Tipping, of the Save Sherwood Forest Campaign, said: "This Government is supposed to be committed to localism but is now withdrawing local services. With such huge areas to be covered, Forestry Commission staff will be out of touch with the communities and environments they serve."

The number of Community Rangers – who work with local groups enhancing the environment – will be cut from four to two in Notts and educational work undertaken by the commission is under review.

Mr Tipping said: "Last year, 40,000 young people visited Sherwood Pines. We need to be encouraging youngsters to get out and value their environment."

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Fears-county-woodland-cash-axed/article-3607592-detail/article.html

News - Society joins fight to save Robin Hood's forest

Britain’s oldest national conservation body is fighting to save one of England’s most celebrated forests from being sold off.

The Open Spaces Society this evening threw its weight behind a campaign to save Nottinghamshire’s public forests, including Sherwood Forest, the site of Robin Hood’s legendary battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The society pledged its support in the growing campaign against the coalition Government’s plans to privatise Forestry Commission land in England.

Speaking at a gathering of a local history forum this evening, OSS trustee Jean Macdonald said: “Nottinghamshire and the east Midlands have fewer open spaces than many parts of the country, because the inclosure movement, back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, bit hard and deep.

“Large areas of common land were stolen from the people.

“So Nottinghamshire’s remaining open spaces, public woods and forests are of special importance, for recreation and refreshment. Places like Sherwood Pines and other woods, many of which are part of the ancient Sherwood Forest, are of immense public value.

“There is increasing evidence that access to green spaces is vital for both mental and physical health.  The society is opposed to the sale of any publicly owned woods or forests unless the existing level of public access – or better – on foot, horse and bike, is guaranteed in perpetuity.

“The Government’s current proposals for selling Forestry Commission land do not provide those guarantees, so we are opposed to them.

“In any case, industry sources suggest that these sales are likely to raise less than half the money that the Government is hoping for, so they are a complete waste of time in the current financial climate.”

Sherwood Pines, at 1,335ha (3,300 acres) the largest single tract of forest open to the public in the East Midlands, is home to many mountain bike trails.

And though there are many theories as to the real identity of the mediaeval hero Robin Hood, the people of Nottinghamshire and Sherwood Forest have claimed the man who stole from the rich to give to the poor as their own and the Major Oak, a tree aged up to 1,000 years old in the forest, is reputed to be the outlaw’s hideout.

From: http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2011/02/15/society-joins-fight-to-save-robin-hoods-forest