Seven Oxon forests could be sold

It still has 457 hectares of Forestry Commission-managed woods, including a fragment of the ancient forest of Bernwood near Waterperry; largely broad leaf Queen Wood, College Wood and Cowleaze, near Watlington; Burnt Platt, Greyhone and Ipsden Woods, near Nettlebed; and Crowsley Park, south of Henley, currently leased from the BBC, which has a listening station there.

Now the Government wants all those places either offered to community organisations, or sold to the highest bidder. Worryingly, though, all the woods in Oxfordshire, except Bernwood, are coloured red as “commercial” on the Forestry Commission’s consultation map, and may be sold off.

Under the proposal, the Forestry Commission will sell its so-called “commercial” woodlands, which bring in £60m a year and consist largely — but not entirely — of rows of conifers; and give or sell the so-called “heritage” woods to voluntary groups. All of which sounds like a sensible enough piece of Robin Hood work to raise instant cash — until, that is, you begin to wonder whether private organisations could really afford to manage heritage woodlands without the revenue the Forestry Commission earns from its commercial activities.

The jury is still out on this question, but one enterprising group in Shipton-under-Wychwood, near Burford, are showing what can be done by “communities” which acquire woodland. The residents recently raised £70,000 to buy the Wild Garden and Wood, opposite Shipton Court, and reopen it to the public. Mike Watson, chairman of the Shipton-under-Wychwood Wild Garden and Wood Company, said: “The place is so close to the hearts of so many of us that we decided to buy it when we heard it was for sale. And the previous owner, who also loved it deeply, was keen to save it for the community.”

But to a large extent the problems and opportunities presented by the Wild Garden project reflect in microcosm the greater picture.

For instance, just as the Forestry Commission tries to marry the competing claims of public access, wildlife conservation, and limited commercial activities (such as firewood, coppice and woodchip production), so must the directors of the charitable company in Shipton-under-Wychwood.

Director of the company Jeremy Huntingford said: “The chairman of the parish council heard that the previous owner, Brian Gordon, was thinking of selling because it was simply becoming too much work and a group of us decided to do something about it. We did not hand the project over to the parish council, who have all the same been very helpful, because at the time it looked as though parish councils might some time be abolished — in which case the wood might end up in the county council’s hands, and we wanted to keep it for the village in perpetuity.

“It’s incredible what the villages of Shipton and Milton came up with, without being particularly rich villages — although there are one or two very well-off people here.

“We have raised the £70,000 needed to open the garden, repair the gates, and do the necessary tree surgery. Now we still need money to continue ongoing work on the ponds and Victorian canal work.”

And there, perhaps, is the rub. How will the charities and trusts that might take Forestry Commission land find money for ongoing maintenance?

As for access, Mr Watson said: “The former owner had to close the garden and wood for a period because of damage caused by dogs. We are simply making it clear that the public must stick to footpaths and all dogs must be kept on leads.”

He added the company already had more than 200 members paying at least £20 a year, but was still looking for more.

Meanwhile, the Sylva Group, the nation’s leading woodland organisation, is now pressing for much better sustainable management of UK woodlands.

The group is backed by the Oxfordshire entrepreneur Sir Martin Wood, and based in Little Wittenham. Its chief executive, Dr Gabriel Hemery, said: “Two thirds of all the woodlands in England are potentially not being managed, and, worse still, possibly moribund. Imagine a woodland, five miles across and 455 miles long. It would stretch from Truro in Cornwall to Newcastle Upon Tyne in North East England. That’s how much woodland in England is in this condition — 625,000 hectares.”

So can it be sensible for the Government to put still more woods into private hands when at the moment they are being run by experienced people?

He told The Oxford Times: “Timber is Britain’s sixth largest import. We could help the nation’s finances hugely by managing woodlands properly.

“There are some good news stories but our worry is the Forestry Commission, with all its expertise and experience, will be weakened — particularly in forest research and good science, just when there is an increase in pests and disease.

“It is also sad the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said none of the money it receives from the Commission sale will go into grants to increase the sustainability of Britain’s woods, but instead into such things as flood defences.”

Sylva is now running a poll on its website asking: Should the State own forests in England? Answers at present are running with an 85 per cent “Yes”.

Dr Hemery said: “Sustainable management of woods could bring benefits: timber, fuel, carbon management, food, health, flood defences, etc. But I note that Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has not closed the door. There could still be benefits in the end — I hope.”

As for why only fragments of the huge Oxfordshire forests of Shotover and Wychwood have all but disappeared: they were privatised. Some say the plan to sell the nation’s woodland resembles the old acts of enclosure that led to the demise of these old forests.

At present the Forestry Commission — which has its origins in the First World War, when Britain was short of timber — provides and maintains public access for people in all its Oxfordshire woods to enjoy daily dog walking, jogging orienteering, cycling and family leisure time. Let’s hope things stay that way.