On a beautiful Sunday in May, a place under the trees in an ancient forest will look like an idyllic picnic spot for the residents of Totnes in Devon.
But when a group of 200 people settled on the grass to enjoy sandwiches and slices of Victoria mushroom next to the publicly funded forest, they were actually breaking the law.
This is because the Duke of Somerset owns much of the area’s forests and they remain largely inaccessible to the public as they are used to raise large pheasants.
The Duke owns 1,100 hectares (2,800 acres) of land in some of Devon’s most beautiful areas, but most of it is inaccessible to the public. This is despite the fact that he received funds for the forest in which the protesters had a picnic under the British Forest Grant Scheme, which comes from taxpayers’ money.
Protesters march through the land of the Duke of Somerset. Photo: Karen Robinson / The Observer
The Guardian joined the protesters on Sunday as they walked for several hours in the sun and had a quiet picnic without rubbish in a field next to a coniferous plantation. But in this way, those gathered violated the law for breaking the law.
The group applauded as they passed a sign saying “no right of way,” indicating that they were officially invading the duke’s land.
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This walk in the woods was illegal because he had no right to wander in the countryside of England. In Scotland, visitors have the right to visit green areas and it is agreed that they must pass with respect and not leave a mess.
Harry, a young Totnes resident and one of the organizers of the protest, told the crowd: “We are here for a peaceful demonstration, ready to fight for the right of access to land. This is not a protest or a big march, but a peaceful walk in the woods, where we should all have access when it is so important for our health and well-being. We want to be careful, we want to be respectful and we will pick up garbage. ”
The protesters focused on collecting waste in the forests, which are mainly used for breeding and shooting pheasants. Plastic cartridges littered the floor, and in a valley visible from the field where protesters picnicked, there was a “pheasant cemetery” with at least 100 bird carcasses dumped next to an old laundry and a pile of wire fences.
Sotna, a 25-year-old environmentalist from Siena, said: “It just shows the surplus, these people don’t even eat it. They shoot them for fun and disrespectfully dump them. ”
She moved to Totnes with her partner Ross, 29, two years ago, and they were both here today for their first mass crime. “There is no connection with nature,” Sienna said, adding: “More children know the names of Pokemon than wildlife species. We need to have access to the countryside so that we can train the next generation of conservationists and have a wilder future. “
Harry: “It’s for a quiet walk in the woods, where we all need access when it’s so important to our health and well-being.” Photo: Karen Robinson / The Observer
Ross added: “I think people need to be able to enter the environment to deal with climate change. If they can’t get into it, it will be much harder to show people what they need to protect. The Duke of Somerset must open his land, at least when there are no pictures, so that people can touch nature.
The law on crime does not allow people to walk freely. Last year, the Treasury commissioned Tory counterpart Theodore Agnew to lead a review of access to nature, asking respondents for “radical, collaborative thinking” to achieve a “quantum shift in the way our society supports people to access and commit to the open. ” “. But, as the Guardian recently revealed, the review was quietly postponed and there are currently no plans to reveal the results to the public.
The Totnes who took part in today’s event demanded more of the province of England to be publicly available. Currently, the public has the right to travel only 8% of England; over the remaining 92%, the law of violation still applies.
Large parts of private forests remain out of the reach of walkers, and property owners use them instead to release and shoot pheasants, a non-native species. Approximately 50 million pheasants are released into the British countryside each year – equivalent in weight to the total wildlife biomass in Britain.
The locals of Devon shouted: “Less space for pheasants! More space for villagers! ” when they entered the restricted territory, which was empty, except for a few property managers who kept a suspicious eye on the protesters.
Sienna and Ross. “More children know the names of Pokemon than wildlife species,” Sienna said. Photo: Karen Robinson / The Observer
Although they didn’t want to talk to the Guardian, the estate’s managers seemed amused by the peace group chanting about pheasants as they walked through the blue-belled forest.
Guy Shrubsoul is the author and one of the leading voices in the Wandering Right campaign, who lives near Totnes.
During the march, he said: “Regular access to nature is vital to people’s physical and mental health, but much of the countryside of England is closed behind fences and scary signs.
Guy Shrubsoul at the picnic protest. Photo: Karen Robinson / The Observer
“Many forests – such as those owned by the duke – are banned from the public because they are full of pheasants placed there for several days of shooting, with extremely harmful effects on the environment.
He said he had invited the duke to join the protesters, but had not received a response.
“We are a very non-confrontational event today. We contacted him at the address of his mansion and the address of the House of Lords. We wanted to say that if you go to the forest today, you may be a little surprised by the numbers there. But you are also welcome to come and join us for a picnic and discuss possible better access in the future. ”
The Duke of Somerset did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
Frankie Gould, another local participant in the event, said: “Since our local group began invading last year, we have visited many forests that are off-limits to the public, closed behind barbed wire fences and” beware “signs.
“Yet the landowners of all the forests we have visited have benefited from publicly funded forest subsidies. Public money, but without public access – how is that?
“The Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust give the public full access to their forests – why shouldn’t large private landowners do the same?”
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