The New Forest’s unique landscape includes extensive wet and dry grasslands among its heathland and pasture woodland habitats.
Lost lawns
The HLS is helping to restore lawns (a local name for grassland areas within the New Forest) where they have been lost to dense scrub. The work aims to restore wet lawn habitats, reduce fragmentation of lawns and restore open habitats in areas of pasture woodland.
Work is targeted in areas that will have the greatest benefits for biodiversity. It includes removing older scrub while leaving younger scrub patches and creating open pasture woodland through landscaping and coppicing.
So far we have restored more than 30 hectares of ‘lost lawns’ across the open forest.
Bracken harvesting
Hundreds of hectares of bracken have been harvested to restore acid grassland and lawn habitat.
Excessive build up of bracken litter has a negative impact on habitats, causing a decline in the range of species. The excess litter is taken away and used for compost.