Since 2017, the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...

has led 70 United Kingdom organizations in the call for a Charter for Trees, Woods and People.

History

The

Charter of the Forest The Charter of the Forest of 1217 ( la, Carta Foresta) is a charter that re-established for free men rights of access to the royal forest that had been eroded by King William the Conqueror and his heirs. Many of its provisions were in force for ...

was first signed on 6 November 1217 as a sister charter to the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

from which it had evolved. Some minor changes were made to it, before it was reissued in 1225. It was then joined with Magna Carta in the

Confirmation of Charters (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

in 1297. A Charter of the Forest was signed by Henry III to set down rights for people to access the sustainable benefits of the woods, trees and grazing lands of the Royal Forests in England. It provides a window to a period of history when trees and woods were integral to everyday life for firewood, building material and food. In October 2010, the government introduced the Public Bodies Bill to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, which would have enabled the Secretary of State to sell or lease public forests in England.

The Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

believed that the public outcry that stopped those plans revealed the connection people feel to the woods and trees of the UK. The Independent Panel on Forestry wrote in its 2011 Report:

A Charter should be created for the English Public Forest Estate, to be renewed every ten years. The Charter should specify the public benefit mission and statutory duties.

The call to create a Charter for Trees, Woods and People was first made in January 2016. The Charter for Trees, Woods and People was launched on 6 November 2017 on the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest. The Tree Charter address different issues to the historic charter because society and priorities have changed so much. However, there has been no comparable statement of rights and responsibilities in the intervening 800 years. The Tree Charter aims to bring this discussion of the importance of woods and trees to people back to the forefront of public consciousness.

Aims

The charter aims to join the dots between all the different areas of society in which trees give benefits so that it can recognize and protect the true value of trees to society. Organizations involved are from a variety of industries. This includes commercial forestry, health, wildlife conservation and many more. To create this Tree Charter, thousands of tree ‘stories’ were collected from people across the UK about what trees and woods mean to them. A tree story is any expression of what trees and woods mean to people. They can be a sentence or longer phrase, a photo, audio clip or video. The tree stories were collected until the end of February 2017. These tree stories collected from the UK public, along with specific consultations with forestry and sector professionals, will form the basis for the partner organizations to write the content of the final Tree Charter. The new Tree Charter document will not be legally binding, but more a set of guiding principles, to which politicians, organizations, community groups and individuals can be held to account. The 10 Tree Charter Principles were announced on 27 March 2017. From this moment onwards, the public is being asked to sign to show support for the Tree Charter.

Purpose

The Tree Charter will be a document which can be used to hold politicians, community groups and organizations to account, backed up by the body of evidence of over 60,000 public stories. It will be the basis each year of a joint statement from the partner organizations, which will demonstrate whether or not the aims of the Charter have been achieved.

Organizations involved

Partner organizations involved in creating the Tree Charter: * Action for Conservation * Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association UK * Ancient Tree Forum *

Arboricultural Association The Arboricultural Association is the largest body in the UK for the amenity tree care professional ( arboriculturalists). Structure There are over 3000 Arboricultural Association members and the trade body is recognised by local Government, th ...

Bat Conservation Trust The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) is a registered British charity dedicated to the conservation of bats and their habitats in the UK. BCT was founded in 1991 and is the only national organisation solely devoted to bats. Its vision is a world where ...

* Black Environment Network * Borders Forest Trust *

British Association for Shooting and Conservation The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, whose mission is to promote and protect sporting shooting and the well-being of the countrysid ...

Butterfly Conservation Butterfly Conservation (BC) is a UK-wide nonprofit environmentalist organization and charity dedicated to conserving butterflies, moths, and the environment. The charity uses its research to provide advice on how to conserve and restore butterfly ...

* Campaign for National Parks (CNP) *

Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a Charitable organization, charity in England with over 40,000 memb ...

* Caring For God's Acre * Centre for Sustainable Healthcare *

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

* CIEEM (Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management) * City of Trees * Climate Coalition * Coigach Assynt Trust * Common Ground * Confor * Confederation of Timber Industries (CTI) * Continuous Cover Forestry Group * Country Land and Business Association (CLA) * Forest School Association (FSA) *

Froglife Froglife is a British wildlife charity committed to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles and their associated habitats. The charity aims to encourage as many people as possible, from all walks of life, to get involved in wildlife conserva ...

* FSC-UK (Forest Stewardship Council) *

Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (formerly the Game Conservancy Trust) is a British charitable organisation promoting game and wildlife management as a part of nature conservation, whilst working with the shooting and hunting community. For o ...

* Going Wild * GreenBlue Urban * GroundWork Gallery * Grown in Britain * Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) *

John Muir Trust The John Muir Trust (JMT) is a Scottish charity, established in 1983 to conserve wild land and wild places for the benefit of all. The Trust runs an environmental award scheme, manages several estates, mainly in the Highlands and Islands of Scot ...

* Legal Sustainability Alliance (LSA) * Llais y Goedwig * MADE (Muslim Action for Development and Environment) * Mersey Forest *

National Association of Local Councils The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is a membership organisation and the only national body representing the interests of local (parish and town) councils. NALC works in partnership with county associations to support, promote and ...

* National Forest * National Trust * National Union of Students (NUS) * New Forest National Park Authority * National Farmers' Union (NFU) *

Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action is the national infrastructure body for the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. NICVA also hosts and manages several websites for Northern Ireland's voluntary and community sector online ...

* Northern Ireland Environment Link *

Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic organisation based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards. It has grown to become a dynamic druid organisation, with members in all parts of the world. The concep ...

Plantlife Plantlife is the international conservation membership charity working to secure a world rich in wild plants and fungi. It is the only UK membership charity dedicated to conserving wild plants and fungi in their natural habitats and helping peo ...

Reforesting Scotland Reforesting Scotland is a membership organisation concerned with the ecological and social regeneration of Scotland. It aims to significantly increase the forested areas of the country. History Reforesting Scotland is an environmental charity est ...

* RFS (Royal Forestry Society) * RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) * Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh * RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) * RSPB Wales * Small Woods Association *

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity. The organisation activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was establis ...

* SWOG (Small Woodland Owners' Group) *

Sylva Foundation The Sylva Foundation is an environmental organisation focusing on trees and forestry established in 2006, and registered as a charity in England and Wales in 2009 and with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in 2010. The organisation wa ...

* TDAG (Trees and Design Action Group) * The British Beekeepers Association * The British Druid Order * The Conservation Foundation * The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) * The Consulting Arborist Society (CAS) *

The Land Trust The Land Trust is a British charity, based in Warrington, Cheshire, which owns or manages open spaces restored from derelict land for public benefit. Its vision is "to improve the quality of people’s lives by creating sustainable, high quality ...

* The Landscape Institute * The Orchard Project * The Pagan Federation * The Sherwood Forest Trust *

The Tree Council The Tree Council was founded in 1974 in the United Kingdom, and became a Charitable organization#Charity registration, registered charity in 1978. Its primary objective is to act as an umbrella organisation for local groups involved in the plant ...

The Wildlife Trusts The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

* The Windsor Estate * Timber Trade Federation (TTF) * Tir Coed *

Trees for Cities Trees for Cities is a UK charity which aims to plant urban trees and create greener cities. Since 1993, the organisation has reported that 125,000 volunteers have planted over 1,200,000 urban trees in parks, streets, woodlands, schools, hospital ...

* Wild Network * Wildlife & Countryside Link * Woodland Heritage *

* Woodlands.co.uk *

WWF-UK The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charter for Trees, Woods and People Trees Organizations established in 2016