New chief executive for Forestry England
13 August 2019Forestry England, the country’s largest land manager and the arm of the Forestry Commission that manages the nation’s forests, has a new chief executive – Mike Seddon, who has almost 30 years’ experience in forestry and forestry policy.
“Forestry England manages one of the country’s greatest public assets: the nation’s forests,” said Mr Seddon.
“The need for public forests came from tough times between the two World Wars and I am incredibly proud to be leading the organisation towards another hundred years. From an emerging climate crisis to wildlife decline, the challenges for the next century will be tough, but I am driven to expand on the great things the nation’s forests already achieve today.
The nation’s forests supply around half of the country’s home-grown timber, all meeting international standards for sustainability.
“All forests, and the wildlife that depends on them, will need to survive and thrive in a changing climate,” continued Mr Seddon. “We will also need more forests to absorb carbon while they grow and we can keep that carbon locked up by using more timber products.
“The challenge is huge and we are ambitious: we want to connect everyone to the nation’s forests.”
