The New Forest National Park is owned by the Crown and managed by the Forestry Commission (established in 1919). This Government department is responsible for forest and woodland protection, expansion and maintenance throughout Britain. Approximately three quarters of England's forests and woodland are privately owned and the remaining one quarter is public forest and woodland, managed by the Forestry Commission.
The felling of trees and extraction of timber is of great importance to the forest and its' wildlife, if left unmanaged the forest would return to an overgrown state and many wildlife habitats would be lost. The planting of young trees is of equal importance as this creates new habitats for the wildlife and replenishes timber stocks. Controlled burning of the gorse and heather is necessary as this encourages new growth, creating food for the commoners' livestock and other wildlife. The Forestry Commission do not work areas of the forest at certain times of the year to ensure the nesting birds remain undisturbed.
The Forestry Commission carries out culling programmes within the New Forest to keep deer numbers at an acceptable level, as they're a great threat to forest crops and they have no natural predators. Squirrel numbers are also controlled as they cause a huge amount of damage to the trees.
Conservation is vital to the New Forest wildlife and the habitats in which they live. Many of Britain's protected and endangered animals, birds and plants can be found here and with the Forestry Commissions management and protection their numbers will hopefully increase.
