Epping Forest Talks: Does Epping Forest Need Saving Again?

This will be the first of a series of talks that we will be hosting to celebrate Epping Forest’s heritage, culture, and environmental importance.

In collaboration with CPRE London, we will host this talk during this year’s Urban Tree Festival. Keynote speakers include:

• Mark Gorman, author of ‘Saving the People’s Forest: Open spaces, enclosure and popular protest in mid-Victorian London’

• Patricia Moxey, B.Sc. Hons. FBNA, naturalist, environmental advocate, and trustee of Epping Forest Heritage Trust

Mark Gorman will talk about the mid-Victorian campaign to preserve Epping Forest and other commons from unchecked housing development across London – one which the renowned ecologist Oliver Rackham has called “the origin of the modern British conservation movement”. Mark’s focus will be on the popular struggle which contributed significantly to a change in the law – the Epping Forest Act of 1878 – the first legal declaration of the public’s right to use an open space for leisure.

Tricia will talk about how Epping Forest, the irreplaceable ancient woodland, is facing unprecedented challenges: from increased population and footfall to traffic and pollution levels; from adjacent development to fly-tipping; from budget cuts to the loss of biodiversity and the climate change. She will also discuss actions we are taking and urgent work that we need to do to protect the Forest now and for generations to come.