Report reveals rising demand and limited supply of back-up grazing land for New Forest commoners

A report has been published following a survey on the extent and location of back-up land for New Forest commoners.

The survey, which was aimed at all commoners who turn animals onto the Forest and adjacent commons in 2024, sought to establish how many acres of back-up land each commoner owns or rents, and where the land is located across the parishes of the New Forest District Council area.

The research was led by Jo Ivey and has been carried out in collaboration with GeoData at Southampton University, along with the support of the Verderers of the New Forest and the New Forest CDA. The report sets out the results of the survey and uses the information included in the Verderers’ Marking Fee Register (MFR) to model the results across the commoning population.

In brief, the results highlight:

• An increased demand for suitable back-up land
• Limited availability of quality grazing options
• Concerns about affordability, long-term security, and distance of the back-up land from the Forest
• Calls for coordinated efforts to map, safeguard, and expand access to this critical resource

Jo adds in the report: ‘The results of the survey demonstrate that New Forest commoners require a considerable area of private grazing land to support their animals when they are taken off the Forest. While many commoners have their homes or holdings in the core parishes of the New Forest, many also rely on back-up land in the surrounding parishes.

‘Cattle commoning becomes increasingly difficult if the land where animals are kept over winter is isolated from the Forest. Without access to considerable areas of grazing land local to the open forest it is doubtful that many of these commoners would be able to continue to depasture their livestock on the open Forest, resulting in the rapid decline in the area’s environmental and landscape value, as well its attractiveness to the many visitors who come to the New Forest.

‘Given the pressures on grassland in the area around the National Park, recent developments in government policy pose a considerable threat to the future of the limited area of available for back-up land in the parishes that come under New Forest District Council for planning control, and therefore to commoning in the New Forest and with it, the future of the Forest itself.’

Read the report here