Save Lakeland’s Forests is stepping up its campaign against Government plans to hand over most of our public forests to the private sector with a rally at Whinlatter Forest later this month.

A rally in Grizedale Forest last Sunday (30 January) was attended by around 1,500 people.  Ever since plans for that rally were announced the campaign has been getting a lot of requests for a rally to be held in the north of the Lake District as well. 

The rally at Whinlatter Forest near Keswick will be held close to the visitor centre on Saturday 19 February.  Speakers will include mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington; Lord Clark of Windermere; and Jack Ellerby from Friends of the Lake District.

Whinlatter is England’s only mountain forest and is popular with walkers, mountain bikers, horse riders and families.

Sir Chris Bonington says: “I urge all those who value these wonderful green spaces to join the campaign to keep our forests in public ownership and public management. By coming to Whinlatter on the 19th of February you can show the Government that their plans are completely unacceptable to people in Cumbria.

“It is vital that we keep up the pressure on the Government to abandon plans to transfer our public forests to private sector owners.  If the sale of forests and woodlands across the Lake District and other parts of England go ahead it will be a disaster for public access and wildlife protection.”

The rally will focus on the importance of making changes to the Public Bodies Bill, which would give the Government the power to sell off all the public forests.  At the moment they cannot sell more than 15%.

The Bill is currently being debated in parliament and campaigners want MPs and peers to vote to remove clauses 17 and 18 from the Bill.

Lord Clark says: “The fact that the Government already has legislation in parliament to sell all our public forests shows that their consultation is just a sham.  We want the clauses that would give them the power to do this taken out of the Bill so we can have a proper debate about the future of our forests.

“The rally at Whinlatter will help to show MPs, peers and the Government how strongly we all feel.  We also want people to write to their MPs and to members of the House of Lords.”

More than 1,100 people have now joined the Save Lakeland’s Forests Facebook page or are following SaveLDForests on Twitter.  Nationally more than 370,000 people have signed a national petition organised by 38 degrees against the Government’s plans, and that number is increasing significantly every day.

Jack Ellerby says: “If you love woodlands and enjoy walking or riding in local Forestry Commission woods, now is the time to stand up and join the campaign to keep these woods in public hands and under sustainable management.

“The coalition Government wants to sell off our woodlands and right now this means 30-40% of the woodlands in the Lake District National Park could pass into private ownership, with free access for cycling, horse riding, canoeists, and picnic areas potentially closed off – what effect will that have on local people’s enjoyment and tourists and the revenue they bring to the area?

“Private owners of forests will have profit in mind – which could mean a return to large tracts of fast growing non-native spruce, and all the wildlife and habitat deterioration that could bring.”

In the Lake District nearly 40 public forests and woodlands such as Whinlatter, Grizedale, Dodd Wood and Ennerdale are under threat. 

For more information visit www.savelakelandsforests.org.uk