Environment
The great woodlands of Europe
Ian Matthews
It is important to remind readers that these great forests exist in 2007 because European man arrived late on these shores 200 years or so ago.The forests of Europe were plundered long ago. When William The Conqueror won Britain in 1066, almost 1000 years ago,he was astonished at the de-forestation and so planted the New Forest in southern England, not for conservation but for hunting. European man depleted the great woodlands of Europe many thousands of years ago, they could of course plead ignorance to the environmental consequences. We do not have that luxury.