Image by Lee Jordan

The government recently announced it is considering selling off large areas of woodlands. Forested areas in the UK are important for local biodiversity, and while Greenpeace campaigns are focused on tropical rainforests, the Woodland Trust is all about our own trees. Guest blogger Kaye Brennan from the Trust explains what's going on in our own backyard.

First of all, let me say that yes, we are worried, and no, we're not campaigning... yet!

Shocking news burst our peaceful Sunday bubble recently, as the Guardian and several other newspapers announced that Defra were considering the mass sale of at least half of the public forest estate.

Several petitions were swiftly started, between them gathering signatures from hundreds of thousands of concerned people and they are still growing in numbers. Online, views were made clear in the hundreds of comments left on articles, blog posts, Facebook pages and tweets.

As the UK's leading woodland conservation charity, we were inundated at once with emails and calls from people who wanted to know if we'd heard the news and whether or not it was true. And then, what we were doing about it. Truth is, at that point the answer was not much.

We are always concerned about what the future might hold for woods and forests in public ownership, especially planted ancient woodland sites which need urgent restoration; if this happens it would make a massive contribution to improving the future for Britain's woodland wildlife. The press were reporting one scenario - mass disposal - amongst the many which might yet emerge.

We know there will be sales of forest land - but how much, what kind and where will the money end up? The answers to these questions will determine the future of our woodland, and the Woodland Trust will continue to lobby at all levels of government to influence environmental policy and strategy.

We anticipate seeing a concrete opportunity for the public to really influence that response soon, through formal consultation in the new year. Using official vehicles we can send our supporter's thoughts and views straight to the heart of government - in fact our Dear DEFRA campaign, which ended recently, did just that.

Our ongoing work behind the scenes can help us to make reasoned, balanced reactions to headlines like the ones we were seeing. This does not mean the Trust is complacent about the future of the forest estate. Even if mass disposal is one possible scenario out of many other possible scenarios, it's still a scenario Defra might consider.

Rest assured though, when the time comes to take action on this we'll be right on it! We'll look forward to having you with us - it looks like the UK's woods and trees will need a voice that is louder than ever...

The people's choice. The blob fish. © Norfanz.

Nearly 4,000 people voted in our poll to find a new friend for Greenpeace Giving's Ugly Fish. If you were one of them, thanks very much for exercising your democratic right. The result was a landslide, with over 50% of the votes going to one, particularly (un)attractive, candidate.

So, without further ado, I'm proud to announce that the newest member of the Greenpeace Giving family is..

The Blob Fish

This gelatinous looking animal, Latin name Psychrolutes marcidus, is now available to purchase on www.greenpeacegiving.org.uk for the bargain price of just £10. You won't of course get a real Blob Fish, as we'd like to leave them in the ocean, but you will get a fantastic e-card to send to the recipient of your generous gift.

And your money will go towards Greenpeace's Oceans campaign, which campaigns against the kind of destructive fishing practices that kill species like the Blob Fish alongside the fish they are trying to catch.

If you don't think your friends will appreciate a Blob Fish for Christmas, there are plenty of other gifts to choose from at Greenpeace Giving, from an orangutan suit for a forest activist, to some paint for the new Rainbow Warrior.

Even better, you don't have to venture out in the snow to get your Christmas shopping, you can get all the gifts on www.greenpeacegiving.org.uk, and the ecards will be delivered direct to your friends' email addresses.

Rates of deforestation in the Amazon to clear space for cattle ranches and the like have fallen, but not stopped (c) Funari/Lineair/Greenpeace

You'll no doubt be pleased to hear that deforestation rates in the Amazon have fallen, according to figures from the government of Brazil. The National Institute for Space Research reported yesterday that just 6,451km2 of rainforest were felled between August 2009 and July 2010, a drop of 14 per cent on the previous year.

I say just, but that's still 6,451km2 of rainforest we won't get back in a hurry, with all the impacts on biodiversity, reducing emissions and (obviously) trees that entails. So while it's certainly worth applauding what is the lowest Amazon deforestation rate in history, not to mention evidence of a continuing downward trend since 2005 (despite the occasional blip), we haven't reached that all-important goal of zero deforestation.

What is clear, though, is that halting deforestation is possible, not only in Brazil but in other parts of the world too. This 14 per cent drop also happened during a period of economic expansion in Brazil, showing that it can be done without having a detrimental effect on livelihoods.

As if to underline this fact, Brazil's largest public bank - Banco de Brasil - has announced it won't give rural credit to soya farmers planting in newly deforested areas. In doing so, it also joined the moratorium on deforestation at the hands of the soya industry, which we were instrumental in creating in 2006 and is still going strong today.

There is, however, the small matter of Brazil's forest code, amendments to the which are still working their way through Brazil's legislative process. If they're approved it will severely weaken the government's ability to protect the forest.

Deforestation is also one of the hot topics in Cancun, where a deal to reduce emissions from deforestation (the Redd deal as it's known) is being tabled. If that's agreed (and actually does the job it's supposed to, rather than being a money-making subsidy for logging companies), then hopefully we'll see deforestation rates in the Amazon and elsewhere drop faster still in the next few years.