It's certainly alarming with regard to ancient forests, of which only a tinay area remains. With other forests it's less of a problem as they are usually run on a commercial basis, with regular felling and replanting. Much of the forest owned by the forestry commission is pine forest which is itself often a blot on the landscape and has been planted in areas which were previously open moorland or much more environmentally sound deciduous forest.

The Woodland Trust is an organisation dedicated to saving our ancient forests as is the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England.