The first year of the project involved conducting huge visitor surveys at both the New Forest and Fontainebleau to discover how many people come, what they do, where they go and why they choose the forests over other attractions.
In the New Forest over seventy sites were surveyed, specifically chosen to cover areas that are popular with local people as well as visitors from farther afield. These on-site interviews resulted in over 3,500 individuals being given the opportunity to have their say on what they like about the forest, and what may have made the visit less enjoyable. Many of those interviewed were also given GPS units to track the routes they used through the forest.
Telephone interviews were also conducted to supplement the findings of the field survey. Over 2,100 interviews were held with people living within a ten-mile radius of the New Forest National Park boundary to reinforce the data collected on-site.
The visitor survey in Fontainebleau was based on similar questions to that of the New Forest, and over 1,700 individual interviews were conducted across Franchard, Platière d’Apremont and Noisy sur Ecole. GPS units were also issued to visitors at these three sites as well as at Bas Bréau.
Alterra collated the data from the New Forest and Fontainebleau, and fed it into their computer models. These models analyse the interaction of the ecology with recreational use across the forests and predict where recreation affects sensitive sites. The output will be detailed maps of the two areas identifying which locations, habitats or wildlife are under the greatest threat from recreation pressure.
With this new information the project can devise pilot schemes to ease pressure on sensitive sites and re-direct the public away from vulnerable areas. This could involve, for example, improving gravel tracks for horse-riding, building a mountain bike trail outside the forest or moving car parks to help channel recreation. In parallel with these physical changes, campaigns will be developed in partnership with local tourism businesses to raise awareness of the ecological importance of the forests and promote responsible behaviour. This will ensure that the local economy still benefits from visitors, but in a way that is sustainable and sensitive to the needs of the environment.
As well as conducting the huge visitor survey, the team in the New Forest has also gathered information specifically on dog walking and horse riding in the area.
Marketing research specialists, England Marketing, worked closely with two of the New Forest stakeholders – the New Forest Dog Owners’ Group and the New Forest Equestrian Association – when completing the survey. Both groups invited their members to complete a questionnaire about their respective interest to gather further information about these two popular activities.
England Marketing then sent a postal questionnaire to a sample of 6,000 households across the National Park area to gain the views of the general public.
The results of the two surveys have helped the team to understand more about the points of view of both dog walkers and non-dog
walkers, horse riders and non- horse riders in the New Forest area, and
encouraged a 'Bag it and Bin it' campaign to encourage dog walkers to clean up after their pets.