New Forest National Park Authority welcomes £400,000 boost from National Grid’s Landscape Enhancement Initiative

A £400,000 grant from the National Grid will be spent on reinvigorating beauty spots across the Forest and increasing biodiversity.

The cash, awarded to the national park authority, comes from the National Grid’s Landscape Enhancement Initiative, which helps protect natural land around high voltage overhead power lines.

An NPA spokesperson said the initiative has already saved a rare wet heath and bog on the Forest from drying out, and helped unearth an ancient Bronze Age site in a “secret hidden wood”.

The spokesperson added that some £200,000 of the funding has gone into removing enough non-native rhododendron from the Forest to cover an 18-hole golf course.

Work by RSPB volunteers at Franchises Lodge to restore the nature reserve has enabled ground nesting birds like the woodlark and the nationally rare nightjar to make a welcome return. Three large mounds, known to be Bronze Age burial sites, have also been uncovered.

Landford Bog, a site of special scientific interest and internationally rare wet heath and bog within the New Forest’s Wiltshire boundary, has also been saved thanks to £28,000 of National Grid funding secured by the NPA.

The bog is about the size of 11 football pitches and is home to rare plants, invertebrates, and reptiles.

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s conservation lead for South Wiltshire, Alex Atkinson, said: “The funding has allowed us to preserve the mosaic of heath, lowland bog and woodland found in the reserve – a landscape that would have once been found across the breadth of Southern England.

“By restoring natural structures like leaky dams in the reserve, we have managed to keep the reserve wet all year round.

“With this we’ve seen a massive increase in species such as raft spiders which, amazingly, can swim underwater. Also, a beautiful but carnivorous plant, the sundew, collecting insects with its sticky tentacles and then rolling them in to eat them is a real sight to see.”

Other areas within the New Forest to receive funding include Warren Copse, near Fawley, where volunteers have been coppicing hazel woodland and introduced a wild play area for children.

Public access has also been improved through a targeted footpath made with timber boardwalks and laying of gravel in place of the muddiest paths for better stability.

NPA landscape officer Sarah Kelly said: “We worked in collaboration with a range of partners across the national park to secure funding from National Grid’s Landscape Enhancement Initiative.

“We’re grateful that funding has not only helped us breathe new life into forgotten parts of our special landscapes, but also encourages local residents and visitors to return and enjoy the unique qualities the New Forest has to offer.

“The wild play area at Warren Copse has been embraced by the community there. We’ve achieved so much thanks to the LEI funding and there is more to come.”

The NPA has also helped secure funding to enhance the landscape at Cadland Estate, including footpath surface improvements, new footpath signage, replacement gates, scrub and gorse clearance, tree planting, and stream enhancements.

Tatchbury Mount, the Iron Age Hillfort west of Calmore and Totton, has received LEI funding for footpath improvements, including surface works to an ancient droveway once used for moving livestock, to make it more accessible on foot and to create a circular footpath route.

An application for LEI funds has also been submitted for improvements to the footpath that runs along the disused railway line at Breamore in the north west of the national park. It is hoped that almost two miles of redundant rail track will be transformed into an attractive footpath, using locally-sourced natural materials, improving habitats, drainage and signage.

NPA chair David Bence said: “The New Forest is a world capital for wildlife and a place to enjoy. Not only has the National Grid Landscape Enhancement Initiative provided financial support to enhance our natural landscape, it is also a great way to inspire more people to connect and care for nature in and around our national park.”