"What a Great Place"

The National Forest is a good place to live and work, to be with your family and friends and where you know your surroundings benefit the natural world as well.

These are the findings of a new report from the National Forest Company (NFC) - ‘The National Forest - an exemplar of Sustainable Development’, launched recently in London by Joan Ruddock, Minister for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste.

The Minister welcomed the report and praised the inspiring achievements that have been secured in the creation of The National Forest, congratulating the NFC for setting itself such a challenge – "to be a national exemplar of sustainable development is indeed ambitious.

The report demonstrates how an organisation can assess the impacts of its business and its surrounding environment and take measures to contribute to sustainable development."

Sophie Churchill, Chief Executive of the NFC, explained the thinking behind the report: "Sustainable development is not always easy to get a handle on as an idea but there is no example more physical, more visible, more practical than The National Forest.

"Sustainable development means having a high quality of life now, but not at the expense of our children and grandchildren. This is what we’re trying to achieve in The National Forest. We are delighted that what we are doing in planting the trees and creating the Forest is having a good effect on the lives and livelihoods of the people who live and work here, as well as benefiting the environment."

"But there is still plenty more to do," Sophie added. "Whether it is the core work of tree planting, or encouraging environmental education for children and young people to enjoy; promoting wood fuel systems and the woodland economy or improving habitats for woodland birds, the work of creating The National Forest can only continue and develop in partnership with many local organisations, not least the local government bodies who have contributed so strongly to the Forest so far."

The report is available on the NFC’s website:

• View 'The National Forest - an exemplar of Sustainable Development' report (1,768kb)