The Forest Charter is one of the world’s first pieces of environmental and natural resources legislation and the earliest example of democratic environmental governance. The Forest Charter radically changed rights relating to Royal Forests in 13th century England, and in so doing significantly diminished the power of the king relating to forests, improved the system of forest courts that provided justice from then until modern times, converted parts of the Royal Forests into commons, returned other parts to private owners, served to mediate forest-related conflicts, and thus helped ensure sustainable forest use until the present day. This Comment explores why the Forest Charter is not as well known as the Magna Carta and why it is worth knowing about.