The government subsequently commissioned an independent report - headed by the Bishop of Liverpool - into the future management of forests which concluded they were a national asset and should not be sold off.
It says it will create a new public body that will hold in trust the nation's forests for future generations.
"We'll be talking to all those who are passionate about our forests to decide how we will manage our forests for the future, " she added.
If that maxim holds in ecology as well as in business, the future of the world's forests is bright.
ECONOMIST: Monitoring forests: Seeing the world for the trees | The
"The future of our farmlands, our forests, our health, our climate - these are the biggest threats humanity faces and they are far more important than concerns over liability, " he said.
Future climate change could change the profile of tropical forests, with possible consequences for carbon storage and biodiversity, a study says.
Professor Enquist said the species that favoured such conditions were deciduous, canopy trees, and if the trend of drier conditions continued into the future then it would change the characteristics of tropical forests.
But natural carbon storage facilities like oceans and forests "will not necessarily continue in the future, " say the WMO.
For instance, the Hadley Centre for climate research in the UK, published research only this week suggesting that forests will speed up climate change in the future, as the soil will start to emit more greenhouse gases than the trees absorb as the temperature builds up.
There's a growing body of evidence showing that in order to provide the extra food needed by the bigger and richer human population of the near future - a doubling of demand by 2050 - without destroying forests and wetlands, farming needs to be made more intensive.
Siilasmaa's company is based in Espoo, Finland, a city among lakes and forests that lacks history, but is dense with the future.
Professor Enquist added that these forests appeared to be quite suseptible to changes in rainfall, and that future projections of changes in rainfall patterns were likely to have "immediate or very quick consequences".
Many of our forests have also been hit by disease and insect infestation that pose a mortal threat to their future.
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