THE Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Michael Perham, is among signatories of a letter asking the government not to sell off the country's Forests.

The letter was published in the Sunday Telegraph and includes the names of many well-known people, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and Judi Dench.

Bishop Michael said: "As Bishop of Gloucester, I feel extremely privileged to have the beautiful Forest of Dean within the boundaries of my Diocese.

"The proposal to make it possible to sell off parts of this national treasure saddens me greatly. There are three points about the unique situation of the Forest of Dean that I would like to address with regard to the proposals.

"Firstly, in speaking about the Forest of Dean, we are not merely referring to the outstandingly attractive countryside and wide variety of trees that exist in this area. The essence of the Forest of Dean is more than the surroundings; it is the people who live there.

"I believe it is unique in that the people who live there define themselves by the place in which they live. The Forest of Dean comprises a series of small communities that share a deep sense of common identity through their location and their heritage. Local people refer to themselves as 'Foresters' and this is their primary level of belonging to the community. Selling off part of the heritage of this community is something I would strongly discourage.

"Secondly, the Forest of Dean is uniquely unprotected as an area of countryside. Despite its distinctive mining heritage and environment, it has not been awarded the status of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

"This makes it particularly vulnerable to any plans for sale or development. Nor are its inhabitants protected by some of the ancient rights that exist, for instance, in the New Forest. These affect both the running of sheep in the open forest, which the Forestry Commission has allowed, and the right to roam.

"Finally, I am concerned that this Bill will retract the acknowledgement of the unique nature of the Forest of Dean, established in the early 1980s. Parliament agreed an exemption to the legislation of the 1981 Forestry Act for the Forest of Dean.

"That Act would have allowed the government to sell land managed by the Forestry Commission. The current Public Bodies Bill proposes to remove this exemption, undermining the importance of special situation of this area of Gloucestershire.

"I greatly regret that, because the government has twice changed the timetable for the bill, I shall not be able to present in the House of Lords on Tuesday, because of important commitments here in Gloucestershire, but I am grateful to my colleagues, the Bishop of Guildford, who owns a home in the Forest of Dean, for moving the amendment in my place."