Chairman of the Epping Forest and Commons Committee: September 2024

I hope you have managed to recharge your batteries and connect with family and friends this summer.

Many of you, I know, have taken the opportunity to visit ‘the Green Lungs of London’ . I have seen families flying kites and model aeroplanes, playing football and golf, cycling, exploring the Forest on horseback and walking dogs. It is a stark reminder of just how important Epping Forest is to millions of people.

Our team were particularly pleased to trial youth photography sessions and children’s litter picking events in Chingford and High Beach recently, which have been exceptionally well attended. We have also welcomed back our popular Open Air Theatre at Wanstead Park and hosted our first ‘Skylark Send-off’ at Wanstead Flats. This event recognised the success of our partnership with the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group to help protect the ground-nesting skylarks who call the Flats their home. I am pleased to report the temporary fencing which was protecting their nests has now been removed.

As our community engagement and volunteering teams settle into their new roles, we hope to host even more of the community events you would like to see… so watch this space!

In other good news, I can confirm Epping Forest successfully secured a £2.4m Countryside Stewardship grant from the UK Government to enable important habitat restoration work. The first phase will be focused on improving wood pasture and grassland through scrub clearance, veteran tree work, tree felling and the creation of new pollards. This will improve the health of our internationally important veteran trees, encourage the growth of floor plants in the ancient woodland, and improve biodiversity.

You can keep up to date with work taking place in your area via our social media channels. Work this month will commence at Leyton Flats, Oak Hill and Epping Thicks.

Visitors to Wanstead Park may have also noticed that dam safety work has also been taking place. This includes some vegetation clearance to allow our surveyors to check the condition of lakes and reservoirs.

Looking ahead to the autumn equinox, I would like to remind visitors to take extra care on the roads; the start of the rutting season means our much-loved deer are more likely to cross roads unexpectedly. With the autumn season approaching, we are once again reminding visitors that fungi foraging in the Forest is an offence and against our byelaws.

Finally, in February next year we will celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Epping Forest’s Ranger, HRH The Duke of Gloucester. To mark this 50-year milestone, we have launched our “50 for 50” volunteering campaign, which challenges local people to sign-up and donate 50 hours of volunteering time to benefit Epping Forest’s charity between now and the end of January 2025.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never volunteered with us before (or if you do it every week) we want to hear from you! Everyone who successfully completes the challenge will receive a special recognition badge, certificate and be invited to a Thank You event in 2025.

You can register your interest by emailing efvolunteering@cityoflondon.gov.uk or calling 020 8532 1010.

 Ben Murphy, Chairman of the City Corporation’s Epping Forest and Commons Committee