Forest Sell-off

Recently both the Indie and the Grauniad have reported to likely announcement by Caroline Spelman of the sale of a significant area of forestry. Now, it is quite legitimate to ask why the government (via the Forestry Commission) owns and manages trees in the first place. However, it does, and recently the FC has moved away fom rows of conifers for industrial use and is actually doing something to create and sustain bio-diverse forests. So, it is to be hoped that any sale
(a) ensures that forests are not lost
(b) ensures that biodiversity is not diminished - preferably the revers should happen.
We shall see. After all, this is supposed to be the greenest government ever. And, as Defra's web site states:

Domestic forestry has a key role to play in meeting the government’s priorities of:

• supporting and developing British farming and encouraging sustainable food production
• helping to enhance the environment and biodiversity to improve quality of life
• supporting a strong and sustainable green economy, resilient to climate change

Quite so.