Committee with preserving as far as possible "the natural aspect of the Forest''.
Buxton takes the view that "we should preserve those features which are
not of man's doing" and gives examples: dead and fallen trees and their
epifloras and faunas, and "Of even greater importance is the conservation and
encouragement of all wildlife" (p. 157 et seq.). Also "Fair play to all things that
Figure 11. (below left). A woodman at work in the Cuckoo Pits area (from
Buxton, 1898).
Figure 12. (below right). Honeylane Hill in Buxton's day (from Buxton, 1898).
Figure 13. Scrub encroachment on to grass areas. In the past quite large areas
of the forest were basically grass and were kept as such by the constant
grazing of cattle and rabbits, strengthened by a management policy of the
removal of very young saplings where they had been missed by the animals.
With the decrease in browsing animals and the shortage of manpower,
particularly during the war years, the situation has greatly changed; and is
rapidly changing still further.
This map shows the grass areas of the forest about 1920 and at the
present time, but owing to the small scale it is only possible to show total
scrub take over. Many areas depicted as grass now have a heavy scrub in-
vasion, likewise areas of scrub often have some grass.
In assessing the forest state as at 1920 areas of grass and trees (e.g. grass
with wood pasture oaks) are taken as grass, that being the ground layer.
Figure and caption by E. G. Lloyd, (opposite).
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