New Forest Land Advice Service

We can offer site visits to equine holdings to give advice on good practice management of grassland, manure, watercourses, hedgerows, trees and other environmental features around the holding.

We also work with the New Forest Equine Forum to run regular courses. Speakers include a vet, an equine nutritionist and two experts on paddock management.

For information to help you manage your paddock, see the ‘equine advice’ box below.

Hedgerows and other field boundary features in the countryside act as important habitats for wildlife and are often referred to as ‘corridors’ which have the ability to link fragmented wildlife sites together.

We offer visits to landowners and land managers who have hedgerows on their farms for which they would like management advice.

In order to improve water quality in England, many areas have been designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zones because the watercourses in those areas are suffering from high inputs of nitrates, and often other pollutants too.

If you are a landowner or tenant in one of these areas of the Forest, you will have certain requirements that you need to meet.

Please get in touch with us if you would like any advice or support with this and we will come out and visit you and help you make sense of the legislation.

Defra advice on NVZs (external link)

If you would like advice on how to manage your pond or would like to help wetland wildlife by creating a new pond on your farmland, we would be interested in hearing from you.

The type of pond we would be looking to help you create would be a scrape in the field and unfenced from livestock. It would be left to develop naturally, with no planting required.

Farming in Protected Landscapes is a grant programme for farmers and land managers in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty.

The programme, developed by Defra and delivered locally through the New Forest National Park Authority, supports farmers and land managers in carrying out projects that support the natural environment, mitigate the impacts of climate change, provide public access opportunities or support nature-friendly, sustainable farm businesses. The programme runs from July 2021 until March 2024.

Read more about Farming in Protected Landscapes.

Countryside Stewardship provides incentives for land managers to look after their environment. It is open to all eligible farmers, woodland owners, foresters and other land managers.

Read more about Countryside Stewardship.

Verderers of the New Forest