Post War Planning
The drastic effects of farming and forestry on the countryside after WWII had not been foreseen. Before the war farming had been in decline and the effects of increased production and the “Dig for Victory” campaign were not regarded as a threat as plans for post war reconstruction moved ahead. Forestry had largely been confined to the uplands and with care the broadleaved woods felled during the conflict would have recovered.
Planning for a better life had, in fact, started early in WWII: in June 1941 a conference was held on “Nature Preservation in Post-War Reconstruction”. Remarkably, planning for peacetime went on even though no one had any idea of when the conflict would end. The war time government was eager to see a programme of reconstruction that included protection of the countryside and recreational opportunities. They were equally determined to avoid wartime privations in the future and this sowed the seeds of conflict between conservation interests and those of farming and forestry.
The period after WWII was one of great social change. Winston Churchill, Britain’s saviour during the war, lost the election and Attlee’s labour government introduced legislation that would revolutionise policies on health, education and the environment. The resulting legislation did not, however, anticipate the massive changes to come in farming and forestry. It was assumed that agriculture, whilst more efficient, would continue much as before. The emphasis was more on curbing the excesses of urban sprawl and providing opportunities for a growing population the enjoy the countryside.
Under the Attlee government, Huxley’s Wild Life Conservation Special Committee led to the creation of National Parks and the Nature Conservancy (National Parks and Countryside Act 1949). By the early 1970s these organisations had been replaced by the Countryside Commission and the Nature Conservancy Council and the relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and tensions with farming and forestry were complicated by Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community. The establishment of the Countryside Commission in 1968 was to play an as yet unforeseen but crucial role in the future success of the Woodland Trust.