The challenge

The New Forest’s special character and its wildlife richness depends to a large extent on the continuity of management and the fact that the medieval rights of ‘commoning’ survive.

A relatively small group of New Forest residents exercise their rights but most people do not understand them. As in many protected areas there is a clash of the old and the new.  Conservationists feel embattled.

Our response

We worked with the Project partners to agree a suite of messages that focused on the qualities of the New Forest.

 We then worked on-to-one with the partners who would deliver the projects to make sure those messages were a core part of the project.

The interpretation planning focused on communicating with local people and regular visitors who live just outside the National Park. There was a strong emphasis on activity and face-to face work.

Our proposals included a training package to help local people share their enthusiasm for the Forest and to give visitors and newer residents better insights into the traditional way of life.

 

Related Projects

  • Sharing the best of Shropshire

    • Heritage and Wildlife Interpretation
    • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
    • Region

    We were pleased to work closely with Shropshire County Council on a county wide strategy about using interpretation to develop cultural tourism.

  • Improving visitor engagement

    • Heritage and Wildlife Interpretation
    • Sustainable Heritage Tourism
    • Visitor Experience Strategy
    • Nature Reserve
    • Tourist Attraction

    We helped all nine Wetland Centres to identify how to engage more visitors with the value of wetlands and their wildlife.