Campaign Update
We are delighted to report that these elected Members of Parliament pledged to be Champions of Epping Forest.
- Sir Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham
- Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow
- Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Epping Forest
- Wes Streeting, MP for Ilford North and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
- Calvin Bailey, MP for Leyton and Wanstead
To view the full list of candidates who made their pledges, please visit here.
Everyone loves Epping Forest
As people all over Essex and East London go to the polls to play their part in deciding who will be our next government, candidates from all parties should remember one thing: EVERYONE Loves Epping Forest
Epping Forest takes care of the local residents in the seats you seek to represent in so many ways. This ancient Forest stretches from Manor Park in the constituency of East Ham, through Leyton and Wanstead, Walthamstow, Chingford and Woodford Green and up into Epping Forest passing close to Ilford South and Ilford North and West Ham and Beckton.
As the “Green lungs’ of London, and the largest open space in London and Essex, it helps to cleanse the very air that we breathe. The Forest also helps us to tackle climate change by acting as a heat sink and reducing temperatures.
Epping Forest is at the heart of British history too. It houses iron age camps and Queen Elizabeth’s Tudor Hunting Lodge. It has trees that have witnessed the last thousand years, ancient woodland pastures and rare stag beetles, which mean the Forest is designated as a Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Representing the start of the conservation movement, the Forest has been protected since the 1878 Epping Forest Act, which recognised the vital natural space it provides for local residents to enjoy.
Epping Forest currently attracts over 10 million visitors a year. Generation after generation of families have grown up knowing the Forest was a place of peace and respite from busy city living; a place where they could walk, cycle, play and exercise freely.
No wonder we all love it so much.
Epping Forest is an important part of the country’s history, a much-loved part of our present and has an essential role to play in the country’s future.
But despite all this, the Forest is under threat as never before.
Climate change, adjacent development and air pollution threaten this vital resource. Lack of affordable public transport options, cycling and walking routes, hamper access to it.
This is why we need MPs from local constituencies to be advocates and champions for the Forest in Parliament and in their daily work.
These candidates have already pledged to become the Champion of the Forest – find out more here.
As an Epping Forest Champion you can demonstrate your love for the Forest by:
- Speaking up for the Forest as an important environmental, cultural and heritage site
- Promoting the Forest’s vital role as a Green Lung for local residents, helping to reduce air pollution and tackle climate change
- Encouraging better access to the Forest by making the case for plentiful, safe, sustainable transport links; enabling walking, cycling and public transport
- Advocating for resources to ensure the Forest is properly conserved and enhanced for generations of people to come
- Celebrating the Forest’s biodiversity, and its role as a vital recreational space for the health and wellbeing of local residents
- Calling for air quality standards to be met around the Forest to protect its trees, plants, fungi and lichen, and increase its biodiversity
- Supporting engagement with local communities in the Forest to help tackle social, health and environmental inequalities.
Will you join us as a Champion of Epping Forest?
How you can help as a local resident?
1. Show your love
Put #LoveEppingForest posters in your windows. Spread the word about this campaign. Talk to your friends, families, and communities. Help raise awareness and profile of Epping Forest!
2. Ask your local candidates to sign up to be a Champion of Epping Forest
Ask your local candidates to sign up to be a Champion of the Forest. They can sign-up electronically from this page.
3. Volunteer with us
If you are interested in supporting our planning and advocacy work, including keeping an eye out for planning / development information, please email us at: policy@efht.org.uk