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The New Forest is an area of Hampshire in England which was created in 1079 by William the Conqueror for the hunting of (mainly) deer. It gives its name to the New Forest district of Hampshire. Today it includes
the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and old-growth forest in the heavily-populated south
east of England.
Among the towns lying in or adjacent to the Forest are Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst,
Fordingbridge, Ringwood,
Beaulieu and Lymington. It is
bounded to the west by Bournemouth and to the east by the city of Southampton.
It is the habitat of the famous New Forest ponies and contains a profusion of other rare wildlife, including the New Forest cicada, the only
cicada native to Great Britain.
Several species of sundew may be found there, and the Forest is also the habitat of
many unusual ant species, including the narrow-headed ant, Formica exsecta, recorded there by Horace Donisthorpe.
New Forest National Park
Consultations on the possible designation of a National Park in the New Forest were commenced by the Countryside Agency in 1999. In
February 2002 they submitted a draft order to the Secretary of State. Following objections from seven local
authorities and others, a Public
Inquiry was held from October 2002 to April 2003, concluding in the proposals being
endorsed with some detailed changes to the boundary of the area to be designated.
On June 28, 2004, Rural Affairs Minister
Alun Michael confirmed the government's intention to designate the area as
a National Park, with further detailed boundary adjustments. An additional 28 days will be allowed for representations relating
to these changes.
The proposed area of 571 kmē will have a population of approximately 38,000. As well as most of the New Forest district of Hampshire, it will take in a small corner of Test Valley
district around the village of Canada, and part of the Salisbury district in Wiltshire south-east of Redlynch.
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