1935 - the first major campaign, afforestation

All through the 30s the Friends campaigned against large scale land acquisitions and planting of acres of commercial spruce in Cumbria by the Forestry Commission.
The first major Forestry Commission purchases in the Lake District were near Whinlatter in 1919 and 5000 acres in Ennerdale in 1925-6. By the end of 1933 the Forestry Commission had planted nearly 1,250,000 larch and over 5,000,000 spruce trees in the Lake District.

Today we work with the Forestry Commission to replace spruce plantations with native trees, creating better habitats for wildlife, protection from erosion, and maintaining the correct ph level of the soil.