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Take part in a walk or ride during the walking festival (15 October - 6 November)

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Events - New Forest National Park Authority

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Calendar of upcoming events in the New Forest National Park.

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The New Forest holds nearly a quarter of the species of fungi (2,700) found in the UK. Some are so rare that they are on the protected species list.

Many fungi have interesting names such as chicken in the woods or jelly ear

Activity ideas:
- go on a walk and see if you can spot any fungi
- create your own names for the fungi you see based on its features.

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The New Forest is a stronghold for many rare species of fungi Autumn is the time of year when the most weird and wonderful mushrooms and toadstools can be seen – indeed the New Forest is a stronghold for many rare species of fungi. They are often thought of as being plants, but some experts say the…

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Planning your DofE expedition in the New Forest?

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Planning your DofE expedition in the New Forest?

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Did you know that The New Forest, while popular for DofE expeditions and organised walking groups, is one of Europe’s most important locations for nature and conservation? This ancient landscape is home to many rare species of plants and wildlife long since lost from the UK and Europe! It is legally protected and holds the highest possible conservation status (SSSI, SPA, SAC and Ramsar).

All DofE group organisers are required to contact Forestry England ahead of any planned visit so that groups are made aware of the special qualities of the New Forest and the rules which are in place to protect it. The notification process is free, and you can download a notification form from the Forestry England website. Find out more: https://www.forestryengland.uk/new-forest-the-duke-edinburghs-award

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Forestry England permission and notification criteria

Notification Form

We require the leader of a visit to complete our notification form and send it to dofe.newforest@forestryengland.uk,

All planned walks will be following the tracks set out on the robust tracks map.

Routes crossing open heathland and off-track routes are not permitted. This is essential to avoid disturbance to wildlife including ground nesting birds.

Dates have been cross checked with car park and route closures and nothing clashes with the dates of your visit.

The group will not be erecting any extra infrastructure, like gazebos, banners and drop cards.

A place for everyone to enjoy

There is no charge for a DofE notification, but we do require that you keep us informed of your activities and help us to care for the forest by reminding all participants:

To read and understand The New Forest Code before they visit.

The New Forest is one of Europe's most important locations for nature and conservation. It holds the highest possible conservation status (SSSI, SPA, SAC and Ramsar) and is legally protected. Find out more

For assessors, parents and leaders not to park on grass verges or in front of gateways.

Campfires, BBQs, stoves or naked flames are not allowed anywhere on the forest.

That participants must follow all signs and stick to the wide, main gravel tracks listed on our robust track map. Do not be tempted to follow the smaller tracks made by ponies and livestock as these often lead to sensitive wetland habitats and ground nesting bird areas. This will allow wildlife to find quieter, less disturbed, areas of the forest to breed and rest.

Note for organisers

It is recommended that you check for any car park and route closures again in the weeks and days leading up to your visit. Although we always give as much notification as possible, last-minute closures can occur.

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New Forest - The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

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The New Forest is a popular area for DofE expeditions for bronze and silver awards and organised walking groups. Due to the New Forest's special qualities and designations, it is not suitable for gold awards. We require all group organisers to contact us ahead of any planned visit to the New Forest and to provide information as detailed below.

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A 2 minute video about why driving slower in the New Forest is important.

Our #add3minutes campaign encourages drivers to reduce their speed from 40mph to 30mph (particularly at night time)

Why not design a sign / poster to share with others about the importance of driving safe in the New Forest

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Driving safely across the New Forest National Park

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Activity idea:
- wild art - use the natural materials found around you on the Forest floor.
- be sure not to 'pick' anything
- leave no traces when you finish

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KS2, KS3. An introduction to Autumn leaf changes.

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As the days draw shorter and the nights become longer, roads become a bit more precarious.

Activity ideas:
- look at the accident data; are there any trends? (location, time day etc)
- create a campaign (poster, audio or short advert) to raise the profile and help reduce the number of accidents

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The open landscape of the New Forest where ponies, cattle, donkeys, sheep and pigs roam free is one of the distinctive features of the New Forest National Park. This is one of the few areas in England, especially in the busy and developed south, where drivers often come face-to-face with animals on the road, both in daylight and at night.

The animals are owned by people called commoners, and it's the animals' free grazing activity across the forest that helps shape the landscape we know and love today.

With other organisations, we regularly check accident data for trends that will help us focus efforts. You can see how the total number of animals killed and injured each year has changed since 1990 by downloading the latest animal accident analysis from the list below. You can also see data on different kinds of animals, and the effect of time of year and time of day. The various maps of animal accidents show very clearly that some routes (usually those with most traffic) have many more incidents than elsewhere.

Every animal killed is a great loss to the Forest, and to its owner. However, the overall trend since 1991 is clearly downwards and most years since 2007 have had fewer than 100 animals killed and injured. In 2020 when traffic was reduced by Covid-19 restrictions, 50 animals were killed and a further 21 were injured. In 2021, 44 animals were killed and a further 15 were injured - this is the lowest number on record.

The number of animals grazing on the Forest has risen significantly in recent years, which increases the likelihood of accidents. However, the percentage killed fell to all-time lows of 0.32% (one out of every 312 animals) in 2020 and 0.37% (one out of every 273 animals) in 2021. Cattle and pigs spend only part of the year on the Forest, so the figures for ponies alone are probably more pertinent, but even these show a clear downward trend in the percentage killed, falling to new lows of 0.49% in 2020 and 0.41% in 2021.

The challenge is, of course, to reduce the number of accidents every year, so the commoners, other local people and a wide range of organisations are always looking for new ideas. In recent years the Highway Authority has improved road warning signage on all of the high risk routes including warnings painted on the road surface. The Shared Forest project, managed by the Commoners Defence Association, is working with local employers to increase their employees' awareness of the animals on the unfenced roads and encouraging them to drive more carefully. Each winter, when most accidents happen, there is a special publicity campaign to raise awareness of the risks among local drivers who regularly travel across the Forest - everyone can play their part in this, especially though word of mouth and social media.

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Animal accidents - New Forest National Park Authority

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The open landscape of the New Forest where ponies, cattle, donkeys, sheep and pigs roam free is one of the distinctive features of the New Forest National Park. This is one of the few areas in England, especially in the busy and developed south, where drivers often come face-to-face with animals on the road, both ...

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9 simple ways residents and visitors can care for the New Forest.

Download this resource to introduce how to  be responsible in the New Forest.

Or visit our website to find a complete set of videos and resources on each of the issues.
New Forest code - New Forest National Park Authority (newforestnpa.gov.uk)

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A FREE environmental award scheme which encourages people to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places.

We can help you plan and work towards the John Muir Award and can even provide tailored sessions free of charge to get you started.

Click the link below for more info:

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John Muir Award - New Forest National Park Authority

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The John Muir Award is a national environmental award scheme. It encourages people to connect with, enjoy, and care for wild places and the New Forest National Park is the perfect place to do this. Who is it for? The John Muir Award is open to people of all backgrounds and you can take part [...]

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Research shows that spending time in forests can improve our health and wellbeing.

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Discover our top tips for Forest Listening, the simple act of listening to the sounds of the forest.

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Watch the video (4 mins 09) then brainstorm with your class.

Activity ideas
- What three words would you choose to describe the New Forest or your local greenspace? Majestic? Open? Threatened?
- Put those words together to create poetry.

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How does commoning benefit wildlife, people and landscapes? 

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How does commoning benefit wildlife, people and landscapes? 

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Commoners are local people whose properties have common rights allowing them to turn out ponies to graze on the Forest. Find out how this helps wildlife. 2.30 mins

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How does commoning benefit wildlife, people and landscapes?

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Follow us on Twitter
@newforestlearn
@EngNewForest

Sign up to our Education and Youth mailing list: Our education service - New Forest National Park Authority (newforestnpa.gov.uk)

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We have over 14 million day visitors a year, many from our local area and surrounding cities. Some love a walk, others want high adrenalin, some prefer a cream tea. But do these activities help or harm?

Activity idea
- Throw a bean bag around the group, taking turns to speak. How many different visitor activities can you think of in 2 minutes? Cycling, picnic, paddling..... keep going.
- Make a list and try to separate these into activities that harm or help the forest. (hint: there may be no right answer, it all depends HOW visitors act, WHEN and WHERE.... so it's important to know what we are protecting)

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Available at 7 sites across the New Forest - subject to availability

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Litter picking - New Forest National Park Authority

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Can you spare some time to help litter pick in the New Forest? COVID-19 UPDATE: New Forest Ambassadors should always follow the latest Government Covid-19 restrictions and guidance. Please see the Covid-19 Response Spring 2021 summary to see the roadmap of lockdown restrictions lifting. We want to enable and encourage people to safely pick up ...

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We have 5 species of deer in the New Forest (fallow, red, roe, sika and muntjac) but at this time of year, please keep your distance.

Deer rutting season is when stags (the males) compete for territory and will fight another male through clashing antlers.

Please keep your distance; at least 100 metres (around the size of a football pitch).

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The red deer rut The New Forest is a great place to see deer in their natural environment, but it is important to remember that they are wild animals and should be treated with respect. This is particularly the case during rutting season in the autumn when stags are fighting for territory.

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For around 60 days in the autumn, you'll notice pigs in the New Forest.

Pigs are turned out into the New Forest to collect acorns which are poisonous to ponies.

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Pigs

From around the third week in September each year for a couple of months, the famous New Forest ponies, cattle and donkeys are joined by another group of animals - pigs.

Commoners let their pigs loose on the Forest to hoover up fallen acorns which are poisonous to ponies and cattle and can cause internal bleeding and death. The pigs also eat beech mast, crab apples and anything else they can find.

The exact dates are decided by the Verderers and Forestry England according to seasonal variations. For example, the 'pannage' season, as it is known, can start towards the end of September and extend to the end of December because of a glut of acorns.

Pannage is also known as 'common of mast', one of the common rights attached to various properties in and around the New Forest that allows commoners to graze their pigs on the Forest. Traditionally pannage enabled commoners to fatten their pigs for slaughter and salting in the winter.

In modern times between 200 and 600 pigs are turned out as the number owned by commoners has fallen. In the 19th century the number was as high as 6,000.

Commoners pay a token fee for each pig they turn out. Each pig is marked with an identity tag in its ear and has a ring put through its nose to reduce the damage to the Forest caused by rooting.

Thank you for keeping your distance from the pigs (don't touch or feed them), and drive slowly through the Forest as they often wander onto roads. Autumn rain or fog, low sun and fading daylight can also hinder visibility, so please drive to the conditions at the time.

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Pigs - New Forest National Park Authority

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From around the third week in September each year for a couple of months, the famous New Forest ponies, cattle and donkeys are joined by another group of animals - pigs. Commoners let their pigs loose on the Forest to hoover up fallen acorns which are poisonous to ponies and cattle and can cause internal [...]