Nearly 800 years ago King Henry III signed a “Charter of the Forest” and now the Woodland Trust is leading the call with other organisations for a new Charter for Trees, Woods and People – and the Charter is being supported by 48 different organisations across the UK, including the RHS, the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust.
In addition, the Woodland Trust is looking for Charter Champions to work with local communities, so that everyone in the UK can play a part in this initiative. The Charter Champions will lead local initiatives and events, and the Woodland Trust can help the Charter Champions with orientation days and funding
The proposed new Charter urgently needs volunteers to become Charter Champions in the Rye / East Sussex area. This could be an individual person or a local group, club, council or committee. If you think you can help, or want to know more there is a dedicated website, along with a programme of events, blogs and calls to action throughout 2016.
Beccy Speight, Woodland Trust CEO said: “Our collective ambition is for a charter that puts trees back at the heart of our lives, communities and decision making -where they belong. The charter will provide guidance and inspiration to allow us all to appreciate, preserve and celebrate our trees and woods for what they do for us in so many different ways. Inspired by something that happened 800 years ago, there is no better time than now to shine the spotlight again on the benefits that trees and woods bring to us all today and to future generations.”
In 1217 (two years after Magna Carta), King Henry III signed a document known as the “Charter of the Forest” and the plan is to produce a new Charter to reflect modern times, but at the same time to carry forward the principles from all those years ago when everyone relied on trees in very different ways – for example for grazing their animals or collecting wood to cook their food.
During 2016 the Woodland Trust is asking local people to think about how forests are important to them and to share their stories, reflections and views. For example a memory that wouldn’t have been the same without the trees in Flatropers Wood. Then looking to the future with thoughts on what role communities want trees to play in their lives.
In November 2017, 800 years after the original charter was produced, this information will be used as a basis for the brand-new Charter for Trees.
Find out more about the Charter here.
Find out more about Charter Champions
The original Charter said that the interests of ordinary folks supersede the interests of those from landowners (even royalty) and we need to understand now that we are stewards of the forests; no one owns a forest we just use it for a period of time. This will be the first step towards a consensus interest in shared resources.
Trees and woods are hugely valuable for our health, happiness and our children’s development. Only 51% of children achieve the recommended hour of physical activity each day (girls just 38%, compared with 62% for boys)1, and research shows that just having trees close to residential areas encourages increased outdoor exercise. Other research highlighted that asthma rates in children fell by 25% for every additional 343 trees per square kilometre in their local area.
Source: Woodland Trust
Photos: Woodland Trust, Mat Alexander/PA Wire