New Perspectives – Katie’s New Children of the New Forest
Our latest New Perspectives Bursary project comes from Katie Dancey-Downs, a writer and journalist based in the New Forest National Park.
Despite its name, less than half of the New Forest National Park is covered in trees. The Park is a patchwork of diverse habitats including ancient woodland, 26 miles of coastline and the most extensive area of heathland remaining in Europe with over 10,000 hectares. It is an important habitat for many animals, including ground nesting birds and all 5 UK deer species.
The New Forest is one of the only remaining lowland common areas in Britain. Thousands of free roaming animals including ponies, sheep and cattle are managed by ‘commoners’, or local farmers and landowners with the right to graze their livestock over 38,000 hectares of the Park under Common Law. These grazing animals have shaped the landscape of the New Forest over several hundred years and continue to play a key role in the maintenance of much of the New Forest landscape.
