New Forest National Park
| New Forest National Park | |||
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| Location: | Hampshire , Wiltshire (Unitary Authority) , United Kingdom | ||
| Surface: | 571 km² | ||
| Founding: | March 1, 2005 | ||
| Address: | New Forest National Park Agency | ||
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The New Forest National Park is a nature reserve in the south of England . Most of it is in Hampshire with a small part in Wiltshire . New Forest also designates a landscape (see here ) and an administrative district (see here ). But these are not congruent.
prehistory
Like most of England, the New Forest was originally forested, but was partially cleared as early as the Stone and Bronze Ages in order to use the area for agriculture . However, the poor quality of the soil meant that the land turned into a heather landscape .
In 1079 the New Forest was declared a royal forest for deer hunting by William I of England . It is first mentioned as Nova Foresta in the Domesday Book of 1086. Around 90 percent of the New Forest still belongs to the English crown. Over time, the New Forest became an important supplier of timber for the Royal Navy and the reforestation of the deforested areas began. During the First World War , the deciduous trees were cut down and replaced with conifers to meet the need for wood during the war. There were further interventions during the Second World War . Today, this process is reversed by replacing coniferous forest with deciduous forest or heathland.
History of the national park
In 1999 the Countryside Agency (British landscape authority) advised on the designation of the New Forest as a national park. The decision was taken on January 24, 2002 and submitted to the responsible minister for confirmation in February. Objections from seven local authorities were considered and a referendum was finally held from October 8, 2002 to April 10, 2003. This supported the proposal, but with small corrections to the borderline.
On June 28, 2004, Minister of Agriculture Alun Michael confirmed the government's plan to make the New Forest a national park with further modifications to the border. It now covers 571 km². On March 1, 2005, the national park was formally established. The establishment of the National Park Authority began on April 1, 2005 and since April 1, 2006 it has had full rights.
About 50 percent of the royal land lies within the boundaries of the national park. Around 38,000 people live within the park, so only a small part of the population of the New Forest District (170,000 Ew.) Lives within its borders. In addition to much of the district in Hampshire, parts of the Test Valley district around the village of Canada and part of the Wiltshire Unitary Authority southeast of Redlynch belong to the national park area. A large part of the originally planned area is left out: Much of the Avon Valley in the west and Dibden Bay in the east.
Flora and fauna
Animals
The following animal species can be found in the national park:
- Smooth snake or smooth snake ( Coronella austriaca ), a non-poisonous snake up to 80 cm long
- Ringelnatter ( Natrix natrix ), an up to 2 m long non-toxic snake
- Adder ( Vipera berus ), a venomous snake, up to 90 cm long, its venom is usually only life-threatening for children, old people and small animals.
- Bergsingzikade ( Cicadetta montana ), the only domestic UK cicada, here as a New Forest cicada known
- Southern rush damsel ( Lestes barbarus ), a species of dragonfly up to 3.5 cm long
- Sand lizard ( Lacerta agilis ), a species of lizard up to 24 cm long, reintroduced since 1989
- several species of deer , including
- Fallow deer ( Dama dama )
- Red deer ( Cervus elaphus )
- Sika deer ( Cervus nippon )
- Chinese muntjac ( Muntiacus reevesi ), a southern Chinese deer species introduced to England and Wales
- New Forest pony
plants
On special plants you can find:
- Gorse ( Ulex europaeus ), a yellow flowering shrub
- Sundew ( Drosera ), a carnivorous plant
- Lung gentian ( Gentiana pneumonanthe ), a short-stemmed flowering plant
- Moorland moss ( Lycopodiella inundata )
Web links
- English
- History of the New Forest
- Lymington and New Forest's Magazine, Information Resource, Directory and Portal
- The New Forest
- The New Forest (website operated by local hotels)
- New Forest National Park Online Magazine
- Images from the New Forest
- Maps of the national park borders
- UK Clearing House Mechanism for Biodiversity
- SAC designation including extensive technical description of habitats and species
- Brit. Department of Agriculture - Landscape Protection: New Forest National Park