Page 25 - A bird’s-eye view of recreation - Rogier Pouwels

Developing tools and rules of thumb for managers
2.2 Study area
The New Forest is a large forest-heathland complex and Natura 2000 site in the United
Kingdom. The area is around 57 000 ha in size and was designated as a Natura 2000
site for 11 habitat types, two habitat directive species and seven bird species (http:// jncc.defra.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0012557, http:// 2 jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/SPA/UK9011031.pdf). It is a mosaic of woodland, heathlands,
grasslands and mire systems and is managed by the Forestry Commission. Several hundred thousand residents live and work in small villages and medium-sized towns within the area or within a radius of 10 km. The New Forest is also a popular holiday destination all year round and is famous for its herds of horses (the New Forest pony) that roam the area. The area is easily accessible, with over 100 car parks from where visitors can use the dense network of over 2500 km walking trails (Fig. 1). An estimated 13.3 million people visit the area each year (Gallagher et al. 2007).
Track network
Figure 1. The New Forest study area located west of the city of Southampton in the UK. Indicated are car parks, path network and roads.
0 2.5 5
10 Kilometers
Carpark
track
paved road
National Park Boundary
Southampton
© OpenStreetMap (and) contributors, CC-BY-SA
23