New Forest National Park Authority Local Plan Regulation 19
6.
Protecting and Enhancing the Natural Environment Strategic Objectives for protecting the Forest’s natural environment: 1. Protect and enhance the natural capital and environment of the National Park, including the natural beauty of the landscape and the diverse range of habitats and species. 4. Strengthen the health and well-being, identity and sustainability of communities and the pride of local people in their area.
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To support Partnership Plan themes: Climate, Nature, People, Partnership Reflecting the following special qualities: • The New Forest’s outstanding natural beauty • An extraordinary diversity of plants and animals • A healthy environment • Wonderful opportunities for quiet recreation, learning and discovery • Tranquillity 6.1.
This chapter sets out the strategic objectives for protecting and enhancing the natural capital and environment of the National Park. The natural environment of the New Forest supports a variety of habitats and wildlife and also provides multiple economic and social benefits. Protection of the natural environment can help tackle a wide range of challenges, including supporting biodiversity, improving public health, creating sustainable business, making better use of renewable resources, addressing climate change, and enhancing the setting of heritage assets. In recent years, the importance of biodiversity has been emphasised through the preparation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), the mandatory requirement for qualifying developments to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), and a legal Biodiversity Duty on public bodies to conserve and enhance species diversity. In National Parks, the Protected Landscapes Targets & Outcomes Framework sets ambitious targets for each nationally protected landscape to drive nature recovery, and this is also a key theme within the New Forest National Park Partnership Plan.
6.2.
The New Forest is one of the last remaining extensive areas of unspoilt natural beauty with rare habitats and wildlife within lowland Britain. The heart of the Forest, with its mosaic of ancient pasture woodland, lowland heath, lawns and wetlands and river systems, is intimately connected to the smallholdings and farms of the surrounding countryside. The National Park extends from the wooded slopes of Wiltshire in the north, across the central New Forest plateau, to the open coastline of the Solent in the south. The New Forest has been formed through the close relationship between the land and its people over hundreds of years, and much of the area is still managed by traditional agriculture and the historic system of commoning, which remains vital to the long-term management of the Forest. 59