Celebrating our trees

We're celebrating the importance and beauty of trees during National Tree Week 2023 which runs until 3 December.

The New Forest has the highest concentration of ancient and veteran trees in western Europe.

Over the years, trees have been used for many things in the New Forest. They provide us with shelter, fodder for cattle, food for humans, and charcoal for fire.

They are havens for wildlife, and the fascinating world of fungi depends on them too. Trees also play an important role in combating climate change by capturing harmful carbon emissions from the air around us.

New Green Health Hub

Check out the Green Health Hub which we've launched online with partners. It's a one-stop directory for outdoor activities in the New Forest and the surrounding area to benefit health and wellbeing.

This Hub signposts opportunities for you, or people you know or are working with - giving people of all ages and abilities a range of different options to consider and hopefully try out!

Join our team!

The New Forest National Park is renowned for its beauty, roaming livestock and extraordinary landscape – come and be part of an exciting team that helps to look after it!

We have an exciting opportunity for a Project Co-ordinator (full or part-time) to organise delivery of our new Youth For Climate and Nature (YouCAN) partnership project aiming to strengthen young people’s connection to nature. 

Closes 11am on Thursday 30 November.

Inspiring arts and crafts

An additional branch of the New Forest Marque has been launched for local artists and craftspeople.

New Forest Marque Inspired is open to people who live in the New Forest, predominantly trade within the New Forest and create authentic and original art or crafts that are inspired by the beauty of the New Forest.

This allows local artists and creators to benefit from New Forest Marque membership without the need to source materials locally.

Generously supported by Arts Council England funding, it welcomes people and businesses who currently do not meet the traditional criteria for the Marque but uphold its values, and whose work is inspired by our remarkable national park.

Show you care this Christmas

The New Forest Trust’s Love the Forest campaign raises funds for conservation, education and commoning projects. Every donation helps to secure the future of this beautiful place. Why not donate this Christmas?

Love the Forest funding has recently helped pay for cards with essential phone numbers to call in the event of an animal accident on New Forest roads, as well as new animal safety car window stickers made from eco-friendly materials.

You can help too by donating via the button below.

Building Design Awards 2024

Nominate your favourite building which has been completed in the last three years. Residential schemes, non-residential schemes, conservation projects and ‘green buildings’ are all eligible for a Building Design Award. 

The New Forest’s distinctive and attractive buildings and their setting in the landscape are important to the area’s unique character. The annual awards celebrate high-quality new developments and the contribution that good design makes to the Forest. 

Photo: Sheerin Bettle Architecture

Still time to comment on 'pop-up' campsites

To protect local communities and the environment of the New Forest, we've issued new planning controls for temporary campsites.

Before we decide whether to confirm the 'Article 4 Direction', we're asking for your views before the closing date of 1 December. 

Under new national ‘permitted development rights’ introduced by the Government in summer 2023, pop-up campsites can operate for 60 days a year without planning permission.

Planning authorities can make an ‘Article 4 Direction’ which means proposals can’t be carried out under national permitted development rights and instead require a planning application.

In ecologically-sensitive areas such as national parks, this allows the proposal to be considered in more detail and, where appropriate, suitable planning conditions to be attached.

Take a stroll in Tree Week

This National Tree Week, how about a stroll to the fabulous Knightwood Oak - the most famous oak tree in the New Forest and one of the largest. It’s believed to be more than 500 years old with a girth of 7.38 metres – and it’s is still growing! It was pollarded when it was about 200 years old and is thought to have been last pollarded about 150 years ago. It is also protected by a traditional cleft oak fence – once all New Forest fences would have been made this way.

This lovely flat walk is about an hour long, on a fairly smooth gravelled surface and has frequent resting places.

Plan for Wellow

Now's your chance to have your say on the draft Wellow Neighbourhood Plan.

Neighbourhood Plans provide local communities with the chance to manage the quality, location and type of development of their areas.

The six-week public consultation ends on 18 December. Find out more, view the draft plan and comment via the link below.

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