Jonathan Gerrelli
Head Agister
‘We think of the New Forest as a wonderful wild natural place – which it is to a degree – but it is really man-made. What we have is a result of man’s activities over hundreds and hundreds of years. Commoners turning stock out to graze on the Forest is what has created this unique habitat here – the heathland, the pasture woodland and the browse lines. The animals are free to roam over the entire area and you can’t replicate that with machinery. There are so many species which thrive here thanks to the grazing pressure and without that they wouldn’t exist.
‘I was born here and lived all my life in the Forest and my father and grandfather were commoners – it’s in my blood. It is always fantastic to go out in the Forest and see all the stock and think ‘actually this has not changed probably in hundreds of years’. I’m still a part of that – it’s that link to the history and the continuity of it.’
