About Llais y Goedwig

Woodlands and forests for the people of Wales

The trees, woodlands and forests of Wales play a crucial role in sustaining our communities, our local economies and our natural environment. Woodlands sit at the heart of Welsh culture and society.

In 2011, a group of Llais y Goedwig members came together to produce a Manifesto for the Forests of Wales.

The Manifesto is a clear statement of how forests and woodlands could best serve the people of Wales. The Manifesto is written so as to help us all to realise the potential of Welsh woodlands – for our communities and for a stronger Wales.

The people of Wales, through the Welsh Government, own almost 40% of Welsh woodlands, covering 6% of the land area of Wales. We believe there is potential for greater public and community involvement in the management and use of woodland resources.

The Manifesto forms the basis of LlyG’s engagement with policy makers.

The Manifesto message

In summary, the Manifesto message is that LlyG’s members want the forests and woodlands of Wales to:

• Be part of a healthy and biodiverse landscape
• Provide materials and resources to meet local needs
• Offer opportunities for local employment
• Connect people with the natural world
• Be a focus for community well being
• Contribute to learning and developing skills
• Engage with civil society

The Manifesto call for change

To achieve this it will be necessary to –

• Recognise the contribution that community woodlands can make to local sustainable development and to a sense of health and well-being
• Give communities in Wales a voice in policy determination and the distribution of resources
• Embed the concept of ‘localism’ within planning processes at the scale of functional communities (i.e. within walking distance)
• Gain a much higher level of co-operation between forest and woodland owners, local communities and users than is currently the case, with an increasing emphasis on long term partnerships as opposed to short term plans.