Communicating about Forest Operations

Overview

 Background

This consultation focuses on the East England Forest District

For a majority of operational activities on the Public Forest Estate communication with the public is essential to promote safety.  For large forest work areas that cannot be fenced off, where timber is being harvested for example, signage is erected to warn forest users of the danger and to not enter the work area.  However people still stray onto operational sites and disregard the restrictions. 

Where it is unpractical to put up a physical barrier the Forestry Commission relies on successful communication.  However, this can be challenging as there is a huge diversity of people visiting the forest at different times, from different places doing different things and one method of communication doesn't always work for everyone.  The Forestry Commission has a limited amount of resources so need to identify the most efficient and effective communication methods to use.

Why your views matter

This questionnaire seeks views and feedback from people, groups and organisations who use the Public Forest Estate for recreation or work with the Forestry Commission to manage the estate for wildlife or timber production. 

Feedback will be used to develop a communication plan to test on forest operation sites in the East England Forest District.  The outcomes from the test sites will identify best practice and make practical improvements to the way we deliver communication to the public on forest operations across the district.

What happens next

The feedback gathered from this consultation, and a second consultation being run in parallel with Forestry Commission staff delivering on the ground, will be used to develop a communication plan to pilot at two test sites in the East England Forest District.

The Communication Plan will be published in January 2015 and delivered as a pilot between January and April 2015 at the test sites.

An evaluation of the outcomes will be carried out during the pilot and the outcomes and proposed recomendations published for feedback in June 2015.