On 2 November 2024, Woodland Savers worked with colleagues from Plant One CIC, My Little Farm, and Thousand Year Trust to convene a community meeting in the village of Gweek, on the Helford estuary in hashtag#Cornwall. We were there to discuss a proposed hashtag#community buy-out of hashtag#farmland and hyperoceanic temperate hashtag#rainforest up the valley from the village.
40-50 locals turned out on Bonfire Night to hear presentations from the organisations and discuss the opportunity. A show of hands was overwhelmingly in favour of a community bid (as was lively discussion afterwards in the village pub).
Two days later we submitted one, backed by a comprehensive vision statement of the hashtag#ecological, hashtag#social, and hashtag#financial value of our approach. Unfortunately, we found out that the landowner had agreed to sell the property off-market to a farmer.
But we’re glad to have had the chance to build these partnerships, and take a positive sounding from local people about this hashtag#collaborative, hashtag#regenerative, enfranchising approach to hashtag#landownership and management.
The partnership is now actively seeking parcels of land above 25 Hectares to make community buy-outs available to locals in hashtag#Cornwall, and anywhere within the Atlantic Rainforest hashtag#bioregion. Contact us at hello@woodlandsavers.org.