News from the New Forest Trust
Pine marten breeding confirmed in the south of England
Joint press release
Conservationists have discovered that pine martens, previously only thought to have survived largely in the North of England, are now well established in several areas of the New Forest and successfully breeding.
The evidence was uncovered in the second year of a long-term study to understand how these rare and protected creatures are recolonising the area.
Pine martens, a cat-sized member of the weasel family, were once widespread across the UK. Habitat loss and persecution reduced their numbers, with only small and fragmented populations remaining, mostly in northern England, Scotland, and parts of Wales.
A growing number of confirmed New Forest sightings over the last six years led to the creation of a long-term study. Led by Forestry England and Wild New Forest, with support from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and a grant from the Love the Forest scheme, the project will map and monitor the growing New Forest pine marten population.
The team uses a range of techniques to study these nocturnal creatures, including hidden cameras. Over 100 video clips were captured in 2022, including some showing young pine martens exploring and playing together, providing further evidence that they are successfully breeding.
The new clips also confirm initial findings that pine martens prefer to use fallen trees and branches to navigate across the forest floor and to cross streams and wet areas.
Leanne Sargeant, Senior Ecologist for Forestry England, said:
“The progress of pine martens in the New Forest is a real success story. It’s our goal to make sure the nation’s forests provide wildlife with places to thrive and expand. Here in the New Forest pine martens are doing just that. The survey makes it clear that they are settling in a wide range of areas and successfully breeding. We hope that knowing more about their development will help us support these rare creatures and inform reintroduction projects elsewhere.”
The team hopes to combine the video with other methods to assess the size of the population of pine martens in the New Forest. Mostly chestnut brown in colour, each pine marten has a uniquely shaped bib – a pale yellow section of fur on its chin and throat. This can help to identify individuals and, by observing their interactions, the team may also be able to monitor family groups.
Marcus Ward from the specialist conservation consultancy, Wild New Forest, said:
“It is incredibly rare to actually see a pine marten in the forest, even for someone like me who spends pretty much every day here. So, to have again captured so many clips of these amazing animals is incredible. This video gives us a unique view into their hidden world and an opportunity to really advance the understanding of these special creatures and how best to support them.”
The project will share its findings with the national pine marten strategy focussing on wider recovery of the species. The survey team are also being supported by the New Forest Badger Group and are keen for other organisations and landowners to get involved in the project.
Forestry England is helping to return lost species of wildlife as a key part of nature recovery across the nation’s forests. It is supporting a range of projects to help secure the return of pine martens and monitoring populations in the New Forest, Kielder Forest, Grizedale Forest and in the Forest of Dean, where England’s first reintroduction of pine martens began in 2019.
ENDS
Media Contact:
Susan Smith
Media Officer, South Forest District, Forestry England
susan.smith@forestryengland.uk
Notes to Editor
- Forestry England manages and cares for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests, with over 363 million visits per year. As England’s largest land manager, we shape landscapes and enhance forests for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and businesses to grow. We are continuing the work we have already started to make the nation’s forests resilient to climate change and by 2026 we will:
- create at least 6,000 more hectares where we integrate wilding activities in our productive forests.
- increase the diversity of visitors to the nation’s forests and have one million hours of high-quality volunteer time given to the nation’s forests
- plant at least 2,000 hectares of new, high quality, predominantly broadleaf woodlands
- For more information visit forestryengland.uk Forestry England is an agency of the Forestry Commission.
About Love the Forest
The New Forest Trust (registered charity number 1099420) was founded in 2003 with one simple aim, to secure the future of the New Forest.
It gains financial support locally through donations and from the millions of people who visit the New Forest every year through the Love the Forest visitor giving scheme.
The money raised is used to fund projects that meet the Trust’s charitable aims to support conservation, education and commoning, with some projects being delivered directly and others by local organisations through the Love the Forest scheme.
Visit the New Forest Trust’s website for more information about how you can help care for the New Forest: www.newforesttrust.org.uk
New Forest Collection guests dig deep to support Love the Forest
Hotel staff at the New Forest Collection who had helped collect a staggering £92,000 in donations from their guests joined the volunteering programme they had helped to support.
The five hotels in the New Forest National Park – Bartley Lodge, Burley Manor, Forest Lodge in Lyndhurst, bed and breakfast Moorhill House in Burley and Beaulieu Inn plus pub restaurant The Drift, have raised the funds over 11 years, with a £1 donation added to bills and are the biggest contributor to the Love the Forest scheme.
Love the Forest is part of the New Forest Trust charity, whose charitable aims are to secures the future of the New Forest by supporting conservation and education projects as well as supporting the ancient tradition of commoning where animals roam free across the landscape.
Last year with the help of the New Forest Collection funds it gave a grant of £9,000 to support the New Forest National Park Authority’s (NPA) volunteering programme which restores habitats across the Forest.
Five team members from Bartley Lodge and Central Offices took part in an NPA conservation volunteering day to restore heathland at an RSPB site at Copythorne. They cleared birch and pine trees with hand tools so that key heathland species like heather and gorse can return and support native species such as curlew, sand lizard and grass snake.
Managing Director Garry Baldwin said: ‘We at the New Forest Collection give our guests the opportunity to support Love the Forest through a £1 donation on their bill. That gives us a great opportunity to sit at the heart of the community by supporting conservation and education projects, keeping the Forest as a great place to come and stay.’
As well as supporting the 900 National Park volunteers who help with conservation, wildlife and heritage tasks, recent Love the Forest grants have:
- funded research into pine martens
- promoted the New Forest Code so visitors can help care for the Forest
- helped Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to remove invading non-native plants from rivers and streams.
New Forest Trust Chairman William Ziegler said: ‘We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of New Forest Collection guests and staff.
‘The funds raised through New Forest Collection guests’ donations are vital to support a wide range of projects across the Forest, ensuring this internationally-important landscape survives for future generations.
‘We would also like to thank the New Forest Collection staff for their practical help by putting their wellies on and joining the volunteers!’
People can donate online to Love the Forest at: www.justgiving.com/newforesttrust.
If your business could support the Love the Forest scheme, please get in touch at admin@lovetheforest.org.uk.
-ends-
Notes to editors
About Love the Forest
The New Forest Trust (registered charity number 1099420) was founded in 2003 with one simple aim, to secure the future of the New Forest.
It gains financial support locally through donations and from the millions of people who visit the New Forest every year through the Love the Forest visitor giving scheme.
The money raised is used to fund projects that meet the Trust’s charitable aims to support conservation, education and commoning, with some projects being delivered directly and others by local organisations through the Love the Forest scheme.
Visit the New Forest Trust’s website for more information about how you can help care for the New Forest: www.newforesttrust.org.uk
The New Forest National Park Authority supports the Love the Forest scheme and is actively involved in its promotion and administration.
New Forest Pine Marten Project – Spring 2022 Update
Your donation to Love the Forest has enabled a grant of £2,000 to be given to Wild New Forest for surveys on pine marten in the New Forest. It will allow the team to test the feasibility of conducting DNA analysis of pine marten ‘scats’, or droppings, to help determine the number of individual animals present in some areas.
The grant has been match-funded by a Forestry England grant and Wild New Forest staff resource to give an overall total of up to 80 days (600 hours) of fieldwork. The Love the Forest contribution will also support additional research and external engagement activities associated with the project during 2022.
Here’s the latest Pine Marten project update from Wild New Forest and some fantastic footage of these amazing animals:
Fieldwork has commenced for the second year of a project using 30 remote trail cameras to investigate a newly established Pine Marten population in the New Forest.
Building on the promising results obtained in 2021, where nearly 80 Pine Marten records were obtained from four areas on the Crown lands, the cameras are being deployed in a further four areas this spring and summer. The fieldwork on the Crown lands is primarily funded by Forestry England and is co-ordinated by Marcus Ward of Wild New Forest, who is dedicating 80 days (600 hours) per year to the project.
The overall aim is to produce an initial map of Pine Marten distribution across the New Forest and identify their preferred habitats, with a view to understanding whether the population is self-sustaining and potentially able to link up with populations being established elsewhere in southern England. Further background to the first year of the project can be viewed on the Wild New Forest blog here and here.
The project team have just released a video, produced by Michelle Poczapsky, showing highlights from the 2021 field season. The video includes fantastic footage of Pine Martens moving around the forest floor at night and in the early morning, including a clip showing an adult Pine Marten apparently moving young kits between den sites, and others showing juvenile Pine Martens, providing tantalising evidence for successful breeding.
The video also features a variety of other notable wildlife recorded on camera in 2021, including Goshawks chasing Grey Squirrels on the ground, a Buzzard eating a Bank Vole, and intimate and often entertaining views of mammals including Badgers, Foxes, and several species of deer.
Bring your conservation, commoning or education project to life with funding from Love the Forest
The Love the Forest scheme is inviting people to apply for grants of up to £5,000 for projects which help secure the future of the New Forest.
The Love the Forest scheme has recently funded a wide range of initiatives including providing litter picking kits for National Park ambassadors; enabling hundreds of volunteers to help with conservation tasks; printing the New Forest Code showing how people can help care for the Forest; and supporting the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust in removing non-native plants from choking our rivers and streams.
Businesses across the National Park generously help raise the funds from their customers by adding a small donation to restaurant bills, accommodation, products and services.
William Ziegler, Chairman of the New Forest Trust registered charity, which runs the Love the Forest scheme, said: ‘The New Forest is one of the best places for wildlife in Europe with many rare species, all underpinned by the ancient tradition of commoning – with the grazing animals helping to shape the landscape.
‘Now we’re asking for schools, businesses and organisations to come forward with more innovative projects to help look after this internationally-important area.
‘We would also like to thank our partner businesses and their customers who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds over the years to ensure the spectacular New Forest is protected for future generations.’
Grants of £50 to £5,000 are available and projects must meet one or more of the New Forest Trust charitable objectives:
- Promoting the conservation, protection and improvement of the New Forest
- Promoting the conservation and protection of the commoning livestock, the deer and other flora and fauna of the New Forest
- Promoting the education and understanding of the public in the commoning of livestock, of fauna and flora and the environment of the New Forest.
Find out more about how to apply here.
Love the Forest scoops new fundraising drive with New Forest Ice Cream
Love the Forest’s new fundraising drive has all the ingredients for success thanks to support from New Forest Ice Cream.
The Lymington-based family business on the edge of the New Forest National Park is giving a percentage of all scoop tub sales of its vegan salted caramel flavour to the Love the Forest scheme.
Love the Forest is part of the New Forest Trust charity, which secures the future of the New Forest through conservation and education projects as well as supporting the ancient tradition of commoning where animals roam free across the landscape.
Free from dairy, gluten and egg, the vegan alternative ice cream offers a rich, sweet taste of caramel enhanced by a pinch of salt. It can be found in many New Forest pubs and restaurants and also at scoop outlets in villages across the Forest and seaside.
New Forest Ice Cream Director Niki Jenman said: ‘We started supporting Love The Forest on our 30th Anniversary nine years ago as we wanted to help protect this precious landscape. Whilst family is at the heart of our business, our location is its soul. We are firmly rooted in the New Forest and the generous bounty of this unique location is evident in the quality and flavours of our ice cream. As a result, we have introduced numerous initiatives to help reduce our carbon footprint and to become even more environmentally friendly as well as giving back through Love the Forest fundraising, to ensure that this special location retains its beauty for many more generations to enjoy.
‘Other than vanilla, salted caramel is the top selling flavour across our scoop range so we hope it should really drive donations for the charity. Being vegan, this plant-based product seemed a good fit with Love the Forest’s nature conservation aims.’
Recent Love the Forest projects include supporting the 600 National Park volunteers who help with conservation, wildlife and heritage tasks; promoting the New Forest Code so visitors can help care for the Forest; and helping Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to remove invading non-native plants from rivers and streams.
William Ziegler, Chairman of the New Forest Trust charity, which is behind the Love the Forest scheme said: ‘We are extremely grateful for New Forest Ice Cream’s continued support raising thousands of pounds for vital projects and this new vegan flavour has all the ingredients for success.
‘We hope all New Forest residents and visitors will enjoy this tasty way to show they Love the Forest!’
People can also donate online at: https://www.justgiving.com/newforesttrust.
If your business could support the Love the Forest scheme, please get in touch at admin@lovetheforest.org.uk.
