STALLION TURNOUT 2024 – ADVICE
As with all livestock our strong advice to Forest visitors is to keep a good distance away from the stallions as they go about their duties and gather a herd. In particular, we advise horse riders to avoid stallion areas. Any equine entering their area will inevitably result in the stallion approaching to check if the newcomer is a threat to his herd, or should be encouraged to join it. An entirely natural reaction, which can be intimidating to all but the most confident riders.
Additionally, with the pony herds inevitably running about more than usual, please ensure dogs are kept under close control and, unless they have 100% reliable recall, on a short lead.
Download Stallion Area List
Information about the climate and nature crises in the National Park reached an audience of one and a half million people thanks to the 2024 New Forest Awakening Festival.
Led by the New Forest National Park Authority with a range of partners, it was the fourth annual Festival around climate and nature running throughout the whole of March.
More than 3,000 people attended 90 events supported by 50 local organisations. The month-long timetable included walks, talks, theatre, arts and crafts, a local produce roadshow, growing advice, climate-themed events, litter picks, behind the scenes tours, and early green careers advice.
The Festival is about increasing people’s understanding of the special qualities of the New Forest, the issues it faces and how we can all help respond to the nature and climate crises.
Throughout the 2024 New Forest Awakening Festival, information reached more than 1.5 million people through social and traditional media channels.
David Bence, Chair of the New Forest National Park Authority, said: ‘It takes a Team New Forest to work together to help protect this vitally important area for wildlife. Organisations, volunteers, community groups and individuals are all taking action for nature, but there is more to be done.
‘The New Forest Awakening Festival has gone from strength to strength, showing people just how special this area is, and how taking a few small steps can all add up to make a positive impact on our fragile New Forest environment.’
We're highlighting ‘Operation Gallop’ to horse owners and those with an interest in all things equine.
Op Gallop defines the efforts of the National Equine Crime Priority Delivery Group – which is led by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Chief Inspector Korine Bishop and sits under the National Rural Crime Team.
At its core, Op Gallop’s main objectives are to reduce horse, tack and trailer theft; improve responses to neglect and fly grazing; and increase education/awareness of equestrian road safety.
It brings together police forces, equestrian partners, subject matter experts and charities to tackle issues in partnership, bolstering the police’s ability to identify offenders – particularly those working cross-border - and return stolen property to rightful owners.
There will also be an emphasis on tackling animal welfare issues, and providing equine communities with robust Crime Prevention Advice to protect horses & property. The Op Gallop website has a wealth of information and advice for horse owners. Visit: https://www.operationgallop.org.uk/ You can also follow Op Gallop on Facebook and on Twitter
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 15th April 2024
We are very pleased to report that there were no RTA’s involving Commoners stock for the above week.
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 1st April 2024
01/04/2024 Brown Filly - Killed Linford Bottom P Rix
Week commencing Monday 8th April 2024
We are very pleased to report that there were no RTA’s involving Commoners stock for the above week.
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
The New Forest National Park Authority has secured almost £400,000 from a national scheme to reinvigorate the natural beauty and biodiversity of landscapes around high voltage overhead power lines in our national parks.
National Grid’s Landscape Enhancement Initiative (LEI), which is celebrating almost 10 years of success, has helped restore landscapes, habitats and access in the New Forest, including saving a rare wet heath and bog from drying out and helped unearth an ancient Bronze Age site in a ‘secret hidden wood’. LEI aims to enhance protected landscapes and reduce the visual impacts of existing National Grid electricity transmission lines within the National Park.
Thanks to £200,000 of LEI support secured through the New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA), enough highly invasive non-native rhododendron to cover an average 18-hole golf course has been removed from a once-inaccessible area in the north of the New Forest.
Work by RSPB volunteers at Franchises Lodge to restore the nature reserve has enabled ground nesting birds such as the woodlark and the nationally rare nightjar to make a welcome return and three large mounds, known to be Bronze Age burial sites, have been uncovered.
A site of special scientific interest and internationally rare wet heath and bog within the New Forest’s Wiltshire boundary has also been saved thanks to £28,000 of LEI funding secured by the NFNPA. Landford Bog is about the size of 11 football pitches and home to rare plants, invertebrates, and reptiles. It has enabled Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, which manages the site, to improve visitor access with a boardwalk and pedestrian ‘kissing gate’ and to secure an area for cattle to graze which will boost wildlife in the nature reserve.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Lead for South Wiltshire, Alex Atkinson said: ‘The LEI funding has allowed us to preserve the mosaic of heath, lowland bog and woodland found in the reserve – a landscape that would have once been found across the breadth of Southern England. These landscapes would have naturally been grazed by large herbivores. In modern times we can use cattle to the same effect and this grazing keeps areas of grass down and allows heather to flourish in the heath.
‘By restoring natural structures like leaky dams in the reserve we have managed to keep the reserve wet all year round. With this we’ve seen a massive increase in species such as raft spiders which, amazingly, can swim underwater. Also, a beautiful but carnivorous plant, the sundew, collecting insects with its sticky tentacles and then rolling them in to eat them is a real sight to see.’Alex added: ‘The grant has paid for a new boardwalk to be installed on the reserve, taking visitors through the woods to view the bog at various points, this makes a walk through this landscape accessible to all in a way that wetland habitats rarely are. This work is not only benefiting biodiversity, by restoring the bog and heath we are slowing the flow of winter floodwater and helping to alleviate the effects downstream, as well as reducing the risk of summer wildfires spreading throughout the New Forest.’
Other areas within the New Forest to receive funding include Warren Copse, near Fawley where volunteers have been coppicing hazel woodland and introduced a wild play area for children. Public access has also been improved through a targeted footpath creation with timber boardwalks and laying of gravel in place of the muddiest paths for better stability.
Sarah Kelly, Landscape Officer for the New Forest National Park Authority said: ‘We worked in collaboration with a range of partners across the National Park to secure funding from National Grid’s Landscape Enhancement Initiative. We’re grateful that LEI funding has not only helped us breathe new life into forgotten parts of our special landscapes, but also encourages local residents and visitors to return and enjoy the unique qualities the New Forest has to offer. The wild play area at Warren Copse has been embraced by the community there. We’ve achieved so much thanks to LEI and there is more to come.’
Other projects with funding secured by the NFNPA include:• Landscape improvements at Cadland Estate, in the south east of the National Park, including footpath surface improvements, new footpath signage, replacement gates, scrub and gorse clearance, tree planting and stream enhancements.• Tatchbury Mount, the Iron Age Hillfort to the west of Calmore and Totton, has received LEI funding for footpath improvements, including surface works to an ancient droveway once used for moving livestock, to make it more accessible on foot and to create a circular footpath route.• An application for LEI funds has been submitted for improvements to the footpath that runs along the disused railway line at Breamore in the north west of the National Park. It is hoped that 3kms (almost two miles) of redundant rail track will be transformed into an attractive footpath, using locally-sourced natural materials, improving habitats, drainage and signage.
David Bence, Chair of the New Forest National Park Authority, said: ‘The New Forest is a world capital for wildlife and a place to enjoy. Not only has the National Grid Landscape Enhancement Initiative provided financial support to enhance our natural landscape, it is also a great way to inspire more people to connect and care for nature in and around our National Park.’
Amardeep Malhi, EPC Manager at National Grid, said: ‘Through the Landscape Enhancement Initiative, National Grid is helping to deliver a positive contribution towards preserving and enhancing the natural beauty, cultural heritage, biodiversity as well as accessibility within England and Wales’s most precious landscapes.’
‘We’re really pleased to be working with stakeholders to provide funding for this important project in the spectacular New Forest National Park and very much look forward to watching its progress that will reinvigorate the natural beauty and biodiversity of this area to make it even more enjoyable to visit.’
Find out more:www.nationalgrid.com www.newforestnpa.gov.uk
The New Forest National Park Authority and five partners are today (Friday 15 March) celebrating an award from the Species Survival Fund to help halt species decline and restore habitats in the New Forest.
The New Forest is a world capital for wildlife underpinned by an ancient tradition of free-roaming commoning animals. However, the New Forest is not immune to changes that have seen habitats lost and species decline. The funding will see partner organisations and landowners working together to enhance 250 hectares of land for nature across 25 sites – the equivalent of 350 football pitches.
Improving habitats and re-establishing links between them will help charismatic species such as pine martin, great crested newt, pollinating insects and reptiles such as adder and smooth snake thrive and create the conditions for a host of other species to flourish.
Among the partners, 14 jobs will be created or retained, five interns will develop green skills with the aim of going on to work in the environment sector and 50 new volunteers will be recruited.
The Fund, a partnership between Defra and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, has allocated £1.04 million to the scheme which, with additional funding from the partners, represents a total investment into the New Forest of £1.3 million.
The partners are:
Freshwater Habitats Trust
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
New Forest Commoners Defence Association
Wild New Forest.
Partners will be supported by the RSPB and the New Forest Biodiversity Forum.
Conservation work will see an increased abundance of wildlife species and improve the connection of the New Forest’s protected central core or Crown Lands with the areas around it so species can spread out further. Woodland, boggy mires, heathland, meadow, wetlands and streams will be improved. New ponds, wetlands and meadows will be created. The programme will also help New Forest habitats to become more resilient to climate change.
The new and retained staff, volunteers and interns will help with practical landscape improvements for wildlife as well as carrying out surveys. They will also share ways to improve areas for nature with other landowners and communities through demonstration sites, working with the Forest’s community green groups, guided walks, talks and online campaigns.
Nationally the fund will create and improve natural habitats, helping Defra to meet its target to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030 (known as ‘30by30’).
New Forest National Park Authority Chair David Bence said: ‘Over half the National Park is designated for its international importance for nature – a higher proportion than any other UK national park. This combination of habitats is hard to find anywhere else in western Europe. Yet, like elsewhere, nature is under serious threat here and the New Forest is the last stronghold for some species.
‘National parks cover 10% of England and are vital in helping Defra meet its 30by30 conservation target. This programme represents a major step forward in the urgent conservation work we and our partners need to do for the New Forest, particularly in and around the National Park boundary.’
The Government's Species Survival Fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
The Fund has seen grants of up to £3 million awarded across England for habitat creation and restoration projects to run over the next two years, helping to halt and reverse the decline in species abundance by preserving vital habitats.
Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow, said: ‘The funding awarded today as part our flagship Species Survival Fund will enable local authorities, landowners, farmers, and our protected landscapes organisations to restore nature at scale and provide valuable green jobs in the process.
‘Only by creating bigger and better habitats for wildlife will we be able to halt the alarming decline in species loss. This fund will be a key plank in achieving our legally binding targets to halt species loss and protect 30% land for nature by 2030
Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: ‘We are delighted to be working in partnership with Defra again to distribute funding for these projects, which will support nature recovery by helping to boost the quality and quantity of wildlife-rich habitats across England. This partnership will further our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.’
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 4th March 2024
08/03/2024 Cow - Nothing Found Stoney Cross South to Minstead J Gerrelli
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
Ifor Williams Hunter 505 horse trailer stolen from Aubrey Farm in Keyhaven, near Lymington, Hampshire last night 04-03-24. Has central divide.
If anyone has any knowledge of it please contact the police in Lymington (phone 101) quoting Crime number 44240095550, or the owner on 07903711181.
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 26th February 2024
03/03/2024 Pony - Nothing Found Crockford - B3054 M Maton
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 19th February 2024
19/02/2024 Roan Mare - Injured Near Matley House - B3056 M Lovell20/02/2024 Dun Mare – Injured Pony Uninjured Burley Road, South Weirs R Maton
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 12th February 2024
I am really pleased to report that no RTC’s involving Forest livestock were reported last week.
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 5th February 2024
10/02/2024 Pony - Nothing Found Marlpit Oak - B3055 (W) J Gerrelli
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 29th January 2024
30/01/2024 Brown pony - Nothing Found B3054 Beaulieu Heath R Maton
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
New Forest Traffic Accidents Involving Commoners Stock
Week commencing Monday 22nd January 2024
I am really pleased to report that no RTC’s involving Forest livestock were reported last week.
Click Here to see how to report an accident, problems with New Forest stock or driving incident.
