World Cleanup Day special

Forestry England’s Dom Barry Trash Free Trails Our editor’s go-to gear 4X racer Natasha Bradley New bikes from Norco, Orange and Pivot

Over the past 18 months, the UK’s forests have seen a huge rise in use. In England alone, there were 77 million visits in 2020 – up 35 per cent on the previous year. It’s brilliant to see so many people enjoying the outdoors, but this has been accompanied by a noticeable increase in litter. To tackle the problem, Forestry England have joined forces with the non-profit group Trash Free Trails, with the aim of raising awareness, encouraging action and protecting the 1,800 miles of trails they manage across the country. Here at MBUK, we hate finding discarded bottles and snack wrappers strewn across the woods. So, as we approach World Cleanup Day on 18 September, we’ve handed the next couple of pages over to Forestry England and TFT so they can explain the extent of the problem and what we can all do to help.