The New Forest Association was formed in 1867 at a time of great change when the very existence of the Forest was in doubt. It played a leading role in the successful fight to secure a future for the Forest. Today the Forest faces problems which are as challenging as those which the Association confronted at its inception.
 
The New Forest is a unique survival of medieval Europe. It is internationally important to nature conservation and biological science. Cultural and natural elements have blended to form a unique landscape in which grazing by the commoners' animals has played a dominant role in shaping the nature of the vegetation.
 
The crown lands and manorial commons are notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. They are also designated as a Special Protection Area under the EU Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds and as a Wetland of International Importance in accordance with the International Convention on the conservation of Wetlands. In addition the New Forest is a Special Area of Conservation under EU legislation. These various designations impose international as well as well as national conservation responsibilities, whilst the decision to designate the New Forest as a National Park should serve to reinforce these levels of protection. But designations alone do not avert threats and problems.
 
The Forest is squeezed between the large urban conurbations of South Hampshire and South-East Dorset. Since the 1960s many thousands of houses have been built both in and around it. It has succumbed to many demands from the infrastructure associated with the growing development areas - roads, pumped storage reservoirs, pipelines, overhead power lines and other utilities. The gravel and oil industries have preyed upon it and continue to be a threat.
 
It has become a playground for the neighbouring urban populations, besides attracting tourists from further afield. There is evidence that these demands are exceeding what the Forest can sustain without damage to its natural habitats, wildlife and wilderness quality. It is time for firm policies and radical decisions if we wish the Forest to survive for future generations. The New Forest Association believes that we do not have much time. This is its agenda.

 

 

The New Forest Association will strive for a Forest in which a strong rural community is sustained by commoning, forest management and appropriate local trades and industry, in the belief that without a strong socio-economic basis the Forest will die.
 
It visualises the unenclosed landscape as a functioning biological system whose component heathlands, bogs, woods and other habitats are protected against abrupt change, whilst responding slowly to the grazing of commoners' animals and deer which have shaped the distinctive Forest landscape.
 
Our vision of the Forest thus incorporates a healthy commoning community. It is a vision of a Forest free from pollution and synthetic chemicals. It is also one in which the management mistakes of the past are retrieved by remedial policies where appropriate. It is a vision in which the public enjoyment of the Forest and the education of the public in the understanding of its peculiarities and fragility, are important but not dominant management considerations, restrained by the limited ability of the Forest's fragile fabric and wildlife to sustain them without damage. It is a vision of a Forest in which there are strong elements of tranquillity and wilderness and it is a Forest set in a wider matrix of diverse and unspoiled countryside within the New Forest Heritage Area.

 

We believe that the exercise of common rights is the most efficient and cost effective means of maintaining the peculiar landscape of the unenclosed Forest, to which the animals also impart a character which is unique and vibrant.
The Association will vigorously support commoning and promote public understanding of the tradition and its modern relevance to the Forest.
 
We will promote initiatives by public authorities to sustain the exercise of common rights and the Association will review what initiatives it should itself take to assist.
 
We will oppose planning applications which involve the loss of active or potential commoning holdings.
 
We will campaign for the return to the open Forest of former lawns lost within statutory inclosures.
 

Habitat Conservation

Most of the New Forest SSSI, Special Protection Area, Wetland of International Importance and Special Area of Conservation is managed by the Forestry Commission in accordance with the New Forest Acts 1877-1970, the Countryside Act 1970, the Wildlife and Countryside Acts 1981-1985, the Forestry Acts, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and any amending Acts. The Association is conscious that there are sometimes conflicting requirements arising from the various Acts of Parliament, and also that commoners and biologists sometimes have different views about what management is required.
 
The Association will campaign for public policies (and if necessary legislation) which recognise that management decisions within the SSSI should be consistent with the conservation of natural flora, fauna and physical features.
 

It is the Association's perception that much has happened in the second half of the 20th Century which has detracted from or damaged the intrinsic character and special qualities of the Forest. It will campaign for appropriate programmes of restoration.
 
The Association supports current initiatives under the Forest Design Plan whereby the relative areas of conifer and broadleaved plantations in the Forestry Commission Inclosures are changed such that the latter are restored to their former dominance.
 
The Association will campaign for the return to the open forest of the Verderers' Inclosures and certain other intrusive conifer plantations, together with former lawns and unenclosed woodlands trapped within statutory inclosures at the time they were established.
 
In pursuing this policy the Association will be mindful of the need to retain certain areas as screens to adjoining development.
 
We will press for some mature broadleaved plantations which make a special contribution to the Forest landscape and ecology to be returned to the open forest where they will be permitted to develop without further interference.
 
Recognising that the bogs of the New Forest are a natural resource of international importance to nature conservation and science, the Association will seek the restoration of those historic bogs seriously damaged by the Forestry Commission since the 1960's, where this can be accomplished without the loss of grazing important to commoners' stock, and supports initiative under the Sustainable Wetlands restoration programme.
 
We will seek a more rigorous programme for the systematic eradication of self-sown pine, rhododendron and other intrusive species from the Forest.
 

Recreation

Probably about 20 million day visits are made to the Forest annually; 132 car parks provide space for approximately 4,200 cars, but there are probably nearer 7,000 parked in the Forest at peak times.

The Association acknowledges the need to educate and inform the public. However, it is our perception that this is tending to take precedence over the conservation of the Forest, and by providing public attractions is tending to increase pressure upon it. The Association believes that the National Park Authority has an important role to play in this respect.

The Association fully acknowledges that present planning policies confer a high degree of protection upon the New Forest and that such policies are sustained by Government in the designation of the National Park.
 
The Association will support the protective policies of the planning authorities and will work to secure a landscape within the National Park which remains rural and unscarred by development or contrived recreational development. The Association will oppose any proposals for further residential development within the National Park but will in general support proposals which assist in the survival of a rural economy or sustain the exercise of common rights over the unenclosed Forest.
 

Roads

Road developments have had a significant impact on the Forest since the mid-20th Century. The A31, A337 and the A35 have been widened and fenced. The terminal roundabout of the M27 at Cadnam was constructed at the expense of 18 acres of prime woodland. Minor roads have been widened and straightened. Traffic density and noise penetration have become such as to seriously diminish the quality of the Forest. Despite a 40mph speed limit, road traffic accidents involving commoners' stock remain at an unacceptably high level.

 

The Verderers of the New Forest, though derived from an archaic institution, have powers and functions adapted to modern circumstances. They have statutory functions to regulate all matters relating to common rights, and they protect the Forest through a requirement that their consent is required for any development on the unenclosed crown lands. Their court provides a forum for the expression of local views.

The Forestry Commission has managed the crown lands of the New Forest since 1923. Since then it has converted much of the Inclosures from broadleaved to conifer plantations, it has caused extensive damage to the unenclosed woodlands, bogs and other open forest habitats, and with the consent of the Verderers has planted up large areas of unenclosed Forest with more conifers. Since 1981, when the Wildlife and Countryside Act required the Commission to accommodate nature conservation, the damage has diminished in scale. In more recent times the Forestry Commission has shown a reluctance to grasp the difficult nettles of intensified recreational demand and there remains serious questions about the Commission's sensitivity towards the management of the crown lands and its fragile and rare natural habitats. We have, however, welcomed the opportunity to be involved in the Forest Design Plan Forum and the Sustainable Wetland Restoration Forum.
 
The New Forest Association believes that the management of the crown land of the New Forest is a matter of national and international importance. It believes, and will promote the view that it should remain in the public domain. Whatever arrangements are made for the management of the crown lands, we will strive for a managing authority which is adequately resourced with estate workers, supervisors, keepers, recreational wardens and ecologists, and has the principle function of protecting and conserving the peculiar character of the New Forest.