Ashdown Forest facing challenging times
Dear All
I am delighted to be able to introduce myself as the CEO for the Conservators of Ashdown Forest.
I was brought up on a heathland nature reserve and spent my childhood building camps, climbing trees and staring for hours in fascination at ladybirds, lizards and linnets. There could only be one career for me, and I have now been working in nature conservation for nearly twenty years. To me, Ashdown Forest is a magical place. When I saw the role advertised I had to apply for it. I was delighted to be asked to take on the role and started in January.
The Forest needs all our help more than ever. We know how important Ashdown Forest is in many of our lives. Our car parks and land remained open throughout the pandemic. We know the huge difference the Forest makes to everyone’s mental and physical health.
However, the significant rise in people visiting the Forest has caused problems, with car parks and rides suffering ever greater wear and tear. Now that the Forest has “been found” by so many it seems likely that our visitor numbers will remain even higher than the 1.4 million visits that we received in 2016. Managing this increase, and repairing the damage, is a real challenge for us.
I have arrived at an organisation facing great change. The financial challenges of the Forest are considerable. The costs of management have long outweighed the income from the Forest Rate, license fees and fundraising.
With the pressures on local government spending, East Sussex County Council believes that it cannot go on funding the shortfall in the budget as set out in the 1974 Ashdown Forest Act. It is clear that we must find alternative ways to create long term sustainable funding. We need to be innovative in how we cover the costs of managing the Forest.
Alongside this, the Conservators launched an internal consultation on staffing in December and that process has now finished with a reduction in numbers. There is a deeply dedicated group of staff at the Forest Centre and the team have interacted bravely with this challenging process.
Nonetheless, the Forest continues to be home to some of this most incredible wildlife in East Sussex. We look after a biodiversity gem. Its management needs to evolve and reflect our international wildlife designations or else we may lose them - with the associated implications for planning controls.
Despite the financial and environmental challenges, the pandemic and the increase in visitor numbers, we will find the solutions to the Forest’s problems. We will need to work together closely with you and with a wide range of organisations to navigate these issues, but the opportunities are as great as the challenges. We know how close an attachment so many of you have to Ashdown Forest and if you feel that you can help us then do please consider a donation and/or volunteering with us.
If you can help the Forest with a donation please go to our website: http://www.ashdownforest.org/
and click the “Donate” button for details.
We would be enormously grateful.
Thank you.
James Adler