Public Pressure on the Forest : Presentment from the New Forest Young Commoners Group

As Young Commoners, we recognise the vital contribution that tourism plays in the local economy and through the very definition of “Commoning” we very much understand the concept of sharing this remarkable area that we are fortunate enough to live and work in with others.

Despite this we too are genuinely concerned by the effect that ever increasing public pressure is having on the Forest’s Landscape, ecology and traditional practices (particularly commoning). Greater visitor numbers is not something that is going to change, nor should it, however we believe that actions must be taken now to help manage the associated impact.

This is not the responsibility of any one body. We believe that it is the responsibility of all individuals and organisations that have a management role or other interest in the Forest. The commoning community is currently looking into how social media can help educate visitors of the Forest to ensure that they are better informed on how the commoning system works and how they can come and see our livestock without inadvertently putting themselves or our animals in danger. We are here today to call for support from the key Forest Authorities to assist us in our challenge, and we make the following four requests and recommendations:

1. We believe that the quality of the experience for all users should be prioritised over the quantity of visitors that we can get to the Forest. Whereas other National Parks may struggle to attract visitors to support the tourism industry, our problem is how to manage the large volume of visitors that we already receive. Our first request therefore is that there is a shift in policy away from the Forest’s Authorities proactively marketing the New Forest as a tourist destination, which includes promoting arranged events/attractions.
2. We echo the CDA’s concerns with the increasing number of organised events in the Forest and their impact on commoning activities. The difficulties of trying to navigate the Forest roads with a livestock trailer when there is yet another organised cycle event on or being prevented from “drifting” a particular area due to concerns that there is another organised event on or that there are simply too many people, are specific examples of activities which are collectively beginning to reduce the enthusiasm of the next generation of commoners to get involved. Clearly the implications of this do not need to be explained.We suggest that an effort is made to encourage organised events to take place on Private land which is not as environmentally sensitive and where events are not going to provide obstacles to commoning activities.
3. We are very concerned by the lack of understanding that our visitors (from both nearby and afar) have about the New Forest. We feel there needs to be a greater effort to inform and educate people on the “do and donts” of our “working Forest”. We urge all Forest Authorities to be more proactive in this regard, whether it be at the Forest Campsites, carparks or on various social media platforms.
4. The enforcement of the Forestry Commission’s bylaws should be a method of last resort, however, we believe that their profile should be raised and their messages promoted. Also, their enforcement must be one of the tools in the toolbox to be deployed in certain circumstances when there is a clear repeated breach due to a lack of respect for the Forest. We believe that there is currently an impression given that there is no will for them to be enforced, surely this is not a healthy impression to give.

Let me be clear, we are not asking to have the Forest to ourselves, we are simply asking for help with mitigating the impacts of a problem, which if not addressed, we believe will see a decline in the enthusiasm of the next generation of commoners to get involved.