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.
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- The ponies are loved by visitors and are part of the New Forest’s ancient commoning system. – See more at: http://dev.bigspring.co.uk/telltale/news/interpretation-strategy-new-forest-project/#sthash.RK7wISBg.dpuf
Our response
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.We worked with the Project partners to agree a suite of messages that focused on the qualities of the New Forest.
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.
