Welcome
Discover the real New Forest – an incredible living, working landscape, shaped over centuries by the animals that graze it, and the people who own and care for them – the “commoners”: Ordinary people, with ordinary jobs, but with an extraordinary commitment. If you want reliable, straightforward answers to your questions about the New Forest and prefer fact over folklore then this is the site for you. Please do explore. We’ve included more information than ever before. If you know what you’re looking for then do use the Search button above to go straight to the right place. You can also support us by applying to join the CDA. You don’t need to be a commoner to join as an Associate Member.
Listen to the our “Commoning Voices” display audioguide
About Commoning
About the Commoners Defence Association
Latest News
The New Forest code
29th July 2020
The Commoners Defence Association has come together with New Forest organisations to launch a new code to help protect our landscape, livestock and wildlife. The New Forest ... READ MORE
Securing our history & heritage
10th July 2020
Fascinating accounts of commoning life have been brought together in a new collection of memories and photographs. Through Our Ancestors’ Eyes features the stories of 20 ... READ MORE
Our Unprotected Landscape
18th May 2020
We’ve all learnt a lot from the coronavirus lockdown. The extent to which people will voluntarily help complete strangers in a time of need has been hugely reassuring when there ... READ MORE
“Don’t delay!” CDA message to ministers
15th May 2020
This week the Agriculture Bill gave MPs their first taste of online voting for a major piece of legislation on 13th May. It sailed through, despite much debate over a future trade ... READ MORE
All change!
27th February 2020
Tony Hockley, CDA Chair 27th February 2020 The Government has now offered more clues regarding post-Brexit agricultural and environmental policies. These will be made possible ... READ MORE
What’s the New Forest done for us?
18th November 2019
The past three years have given ample time for Britain to think about what a break from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could mean for the countryside and nature. Could the ... READ MORE
Kick on! The Glover Review & The New Forest
23rd September 2019
CDA Chair, Tony Hockley, offers his personal views on the review of national landscapes The review of Designated Landscapes led by Julian Glover faced a huge ... READ MORE
Commoning year
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANovember
The final drifts take place and commoners adjust to the longer nights, but commoning activities must go on regardless
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@realnewforest 4h
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