Securing heritage and growing the future

It comes at a time when we have been sharply reminded by ash dieback of just how fragile and limited our woodland resource actually is. But also when the reaction has reminded us just how much the public care about woods and trees and the extent to which they help shape our national identity.

The Woodland Trust's founder, Ken Watkins would, I'm sure, have been delighted by some of things we've been able to achieve over the last 40 years with the help of our supporters -individual, corporate and political. We've helped create 13, 500ha of new native woodland and plant 20 million trees - many in conjunction with local communities. Since our first purchase of Avon Wood in 1973 the Trust has gone on to buy and protect 1, 276 woods which cover 23, 850 hectares. We've also restored 10, 000 hectares of ancient woodland that were buried under conifers. Our Woods under Threat team has helped save 484 ancient woods threatened by development.

The fate of woods and trees in policy over the last 40 years has been a mixed one. Key developments have included the publication of PPS 9 in 2005 when planning policy finally recognised the importance of ancient woodland. We need to ensure that this remains the case. There are still 400 ancient woods threatened by development and that's far too many. Good development respects the best of our natural heritage.

At the 2010 general election all three parties set out ambitions to increase woodland cover - showing the consensus that exists around this but it needs to be translated into action. The Independent Panel on Forestry Policy -set up in the wake of the row over the sell off of the Public Forest Estate - reported in the summer. It set out a range of recommendations with strong cross-sector support behind them. Government needs to adopt the report as a whole and make it the bedrock of a new forestry strategy for England. Its call to increase woodland cover from 10 to 15% can help deliver on many policy agendas as well as shaping a woodland landscape more resilient to challenges like diseases and climate change.

At the Woodland Trustwe have our own three point plan for what we will do ourselves encompassing: research into diseases which engages the wider public; working with local suppliers to source the trees we need; and setting up an international conference bringing together experts and harnessing social media.

We can safely say that it was a time of challenge for woods and trees when the Woodland Trustwas born, with Dutch Elm Disease beginning to spread and ancient woodland loss occurring at an alarming rate, and a time of challenge again now as the growth in pests and diseases shows.

One major difference however is that we know far more - through pieces of work like last year's first ever National Ecosystem Assessment - about what trees do for us.

We face modern policy challenges like stimulating the rural economy and wider green economy, public health, climate change, flood alleviation. These are all areas where forestry has a vital role to play as well as helping nature and shaping a more attractive country within which to live, work and spend leisure time.

There are not many policy areas where you get to deliver on so many agendas simultaneously and in the present public spending climate that represents an open goal for the Government which it can grasp by accepting the recommendations of the Independent panel.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/forestrypanel/reports/