Named by William The Conqueror the ‘new hunting forest’ in 1079, the landscape of the New Forest has hardly changed since then. The woodlands and heaths are looked after today using the same ancient systems implemented by William The Conqueror mainly in the form of Commoners which are the local inhabitants who farm cattle, pigs, donkeys and ponies. These areas are called pasture woodland are left open for the cattle and pigs, also deer. The Ancient and Ornamental woodlands cover 3,692 hectares of the open forest. There are also a number of other workers who manage the forest from rangers and keepers to skilled woodsmen, all of which work full time to look after the forest.

The New Forest was given National Park status in 2005 and covers an area of approximately 580 square kilometres which is 143321 acres with a population of 38,000. The forest includes the largest tracts of unenclosed forest, heathland and pastureland remaining in the South East England. The uniqueness of the landscape provides habitat for rare wildlife and plants. These lowland areas are a rare occurance in the UK today. In the forms of wet heaths, dry heaths and valley bogs these areas are home to adders, grass snakes and lizards and more information regarding these creatures can be found at the New Forest Reptile Centre.