to buy a forest as something to use and a store of wealth

[medona]

I'm really taken with the idea of buying a small forest, just somewhere where I can go to relax, camp and help the environment. Also as a store of money as my cash is getting nothing in the bank and worried about having so much in there.

Everyone IRL thinks this is silly, as I can just go and walk in a forest for free. I think it would be very different if I owned it and could do more to improve the ecosystem.

More a am I being crazy to buy s forest as an investment and a hobby?

I had huge pleasure for 10 years in my 28 acres of rainforest (as well as beaches) on my island in Panama. Go for it. Land rules - they aren't making any more of it.

Getting a money return on your investment takes 30-70 yrs. But lots of other benefits in mean time potentially.

Sorry, I thought you wanted to bury your money in the forest.

Do it, sounds lovely.

Dh has one, but you never know who's wandering around it and it's impossible to prevent them from doing so. We've had fence posts stolen and the guy next to us had some of his trees felled when he wasn't there. We often find beer bottles and stuff scattered round. Don't ever imagine that it's nice and private.

Countryside crime is rife.

There used to be huge tax incentives for buying forestry and planting trees, not sure if this is still the case. I only know this because my uncle bought a couple for this reason. And believe me, he did nothing without there being a tax incentive for doing so.

Also, you don't want anybody (hmmmm dogging) using your property!!!

Ooh I'd be far to possessive and hate the idea of other people going on my land!

I wouldn't mind doggies in my forest, landrover. They could shit off the path and everything, I'm not dead precious or anything.

I was briefly tempted to buy Stickle Tarn.

Ah, I saw Stickle Tarn was for sale too. It would be a nice purchase.

Well, depends where it is, and if it has public rights of way going through it...Imagine living in a village, and discovering that the bit of woodland you used to build dens in as a kid, and walk your dogs in, is suddenly all fenced off and has "Private" notices all over it, because someone you've never met from upcountry, who comes down for about a week a year, has bought it. Resentment, much? .

By all means do this, but be sensitive to the needs of the people who actually live nearby. Building bridges with the local community and allowing public access means that you would actually have people looking out for you while you're not there, too.

Pastaagain78 I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that! I had visions of the OP burying her stash of money in the forest with a treasure map to tell her where it was hidden. To be discovered in the future by her descendants.

Sounds like fun.

Not sure where you are, but if in the UK - with the onset of global warming it will in time be possible to grow more exotic food crops sheltered within woodland areas which gain the protection of shelter and still have access to warmth and light. The value of woodland will increase.

There is a difference between a wood and a 'forest' though?

with the onset of global warming it will in time be possible to grow more exotic food crops sheltered within woodland areas which gain the protection of shelter and still have access to warmth and light.

I believe this already happens in a multitude of clandestine locations across the UK.....I hear marijuana farming is quite lucrative too