Please vote to give Sherwood a secure future

[Tapper50]

PLEASE help secure the future for Sherwood Forest and the rare and endangered species that make it a site of international ecological importance.

Sherwood?s down to the final four finalists in the BIG Lottery?s People?s ?50m contest this December. Unless it wins the public vote, ambitious plans to transform the forest into a world-class tourist attraction and restore it to its former greenwood glory could fall by the wayside.

Without votes Sherwood won't get a penny. I'm urging everyone who cares about wildlife to pledge their support at Robin Hood | Sherwood: The Living Legend - Welcome or Home | The People's 50 Million

With 1,000 ancient native trees, Sherwood Forest has Europe?s largest concentration of ancient woodland along with Redstarts and Woodlarks, rare fungi, Leisler, Noctule Brown long-eared and pipestrelle bats, 1,500 varieties of beetle, 200 types of spider along with common lizards, moths and even pseudo scorpions.

Although sections, including the area around the now frail 800-year-old Major Oak, are protected by European Special Area of Conservation and National Nature Reserve status, only fragments of the legendary greenwood survive.

Sherwood boasts a unique mosaic of habitats, parts of which are as ecologically important as the tropical rainforest. Acclaimed actor Brian Blessed, a committed member of the Wildlife Trust, is champion of theSherwood cause and will front the bid before a national TV audience when the four finalists air their case in the first week of December.

Because of its conservation status, the current visitor centres have to come down by 2010 to protect the most important parts of the site. Only last week a section of the visitor centre was closed when cracks were spotted in one of the most important ancient trees.

Sherwood?s only hope is a ?50m lottery win that will fund plans to restore 300 hectares of farmland into native woodland and heathland, reconnecting the remains of the original forest and conserving the irreplaceable mix of wildlife habitats for the next 1,000 years.

Internet voting opens on Monday 26th November.

[cybershot]

Broached this subject earlier Tapper and quite naturally it received a mixed response. I gauge that the majority feel the money should be more equitably divided between deserving causes. I tend to agree but, as it is a done deal, I felt support for one or other of the projects should be encouraged.

Sherwood: The Living Legend Project

Thanks for expanding on the details and hope the campaign succeeds.

David

[naturelover]

hi tapper50,firstly a warm welcome to the best wildlife site,i canot believe there thinking of destroying that beautiful forest,it shouldnt even be thought about let alone put to a vote,imagin the birds animals and insects that will be killed,and all the trees that are hundreds of years old,i am ashamed to call myself human because we arnt any more,its all down to greed and money,what about life.

[Jez]

Hiya

I don't dig Sherwood Forest but i could. If they got rid of the pedestrian walk ways and made it a natural forest where you needent be guided around by the fence posts which seem to disconnect you from the whole oneness that any good Forest/Woodland does. It's synthetic! Lets hope they get it right for the forest life and not for Robin Hood Attraction as much as i like folk lore his capitalism does the forest itself no justice unfortunatley apart the major oak which again looked an eyesaw with all those industial supports preserving it artifical like. On the upside i have been told he cycle routes a far better.

I'm sorry to drill Sherwood but it's a view i hold and woul d love to see it again freely. I might even hug a tree 'female only mind' if were allowed

[naturelover]

jez i didnt know it had changed,mind you it must have been in the sixtys when i last saw it,thats when i was a greaser on the back of my boyfriends bike,those were the days my friend.

[Jez]

Originally Posted by naturelover

jez i didnt know it had changed,mind you it must have been in the sixtys when i last saw it,thats when i was a greaser on the back of my boyfriends bike,those were the days my friend.

What was Sherwood like then in the good ole days Naturelover as i have only been there recently. I love to know it from a good ole greaser

[naturelover]

i am sure you dont remember the greasers,i am talking about the mods and rockers eara,when there were fights between them,we didnt mix much with them as we were in love and didnt need them,but when i think back to those days how i was on the back of a 650cc doing a ton i will never know,spooky now but i loved it then,i can understand why mum and dad were scared now i have kids of my own,but i was a bit of a reble then no fear of any thing just wanted a good time,but then we are all like that arnt we,never listen to our parents.

[Tapper50]

I know people who can remember getting lost in the trees trying to find their way to the Major Oak in Sherwood. These days you're hard pressed to stay within the cover of those magnificent oaks for too long - they're fragile and fragmented. That's one of the reasons the money's so badly needed. New visitor facilities can be built away from the most sensitive parts of the forest leaving the rich ecology to blossom as Nature intended - while planting of new native trees will aim to restore the greenwood to its former glory. That way our kids and their kids will be able to share those wonderful experiences. Who knows that they might be telling their grandkids "I remember when this little copse was full of trees you know.." This is the LAST CHANCE to get your vote in. Online voting is at Home | The People's 50 Million - you have one vote per email address. Phone lines open tomrrow (Friday) at 9am see the website itv.com/peoplesmillions for details, the numbers aren't yet announced. Voting closes at noon on Monday and its vital we do something to save Sherwood Forest and its future. Please vote. Please get your mates and families to vote. And get them to pass the message on. This is our chance to make something happen. Thanks for taking the time to read this guys - it's so vital we do something to keep the native woodland of England alive!