Save Lakeland’s Forests and Friends of the Lake District have urged the public not to rest on their laurels in the fight to save the country’s publically-owned forests.

A government proposal to sell the Forestry Commission’s entire 635,000-acre estate – essentially transferring power to the private sector – was axed in February after a national outcry which saw more than half a million people sign a petition in protest.

The led to the creation of the Independent Panel on Forestry in March, ‘to advise [the] Government on the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England and on the role of the Forestry Commission in implementing policy.’

The panel, which is chaired by the Bishop of Liverpool, has invited members of the public to send in their views on the future of the forests by July 31.

And former Forestry Commission chairman Lord Clark of Windermere has urged mountain bikers to make their voices heard to ensure England’s forests remain protected.

“The Government’s plans to sell off our public forests provoked a huge outcry earlier this year,” he said. “However, it would be wrong to believe these forests are now safe.

“If you care about our public forests, walk your dogs in these woods, ride a mountain bike on one of the trails, enjoy having the chance to see the Lake District ospreys, the recently reintroduced red kites or our remaining red squirrels it’s important to let this panel know how important our public forests are to you.  

“The panel need to be reminded that people in this country feel passionately about the public forests and want to maintain them for future generations to be able to enjoy.”

You can e-mail your views to the panel on [email protected] or write to the address on the Defra website.

The panel has announced plans to visit the Forest of Dean, Northumberland, Kent and London in a whistlestop tour this summer but Friends of the Lake District’s Jack Ellerby believes the Lakes should also be on the agenda.

“People in the Lake District showed how much the public forests here mean to them,” said Ellerby. “Our forests are used by a very large number of local people and visitors.

“They must have an opportunity to make their views known to the panel and it’s important that members of the panel also get the chance to see different types of public forests.

“I would therefore urge the panel to make time for a visit to the Lake District’s forests over the summer, including talking to wildlife experts, walkers, mountain bikers and horse riders in this area.”

For more information on Save Lakeland’s Forests visit www.savelakelandsforests.org.uk or for the lowdown on Friends of the Lake District visit www.fld.org.uk