Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

Explore

Visitor activities and impacts

Summary

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Guidance for teachers on using activity cards to explore how different leisure, tourism, and local economic activities affect the New Forest. Pupils work in small groups to discuss and sort activities into “good for the forest,” “bad for the forest,” or “not sure,” then share reasons for their choices. It advises clarifying that impacts should be judged from an environmental perspective, considering issues such as litter, fire risk, noise, and erosion, and notes that income from visitors can support local communities. For younger or less experienced pupils, fewer cards can be used, and there are no fixed right or wrong answers. A second activity suggests polling the class on which activities are enjoyed or most common, discussing how popularity can increase impact, and creating tally charts for a survey during a forest visit. The cards cover 30 activities including cycling, dog walking, camping, wildlife watching, shopping, and guided walks.
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Cycling

Ideas for using activity cards.

Impacts discussion

In groups of three or four, ask pupils to discuss then sort the activities into three groups.

  • Good for the Forest
  • Bad for the Forest
  • Not Sure…

Then feedback, with reasons, about a chosen activity.

Be aware that some pupils will automatically sort in good or bad for “me” or “humans” to do, so there can be a need to revise what is good or bad for the environment before beginning, .e.g. litter, fire, noise, erosion. Try our recreation dice game. Don’t forget that making money is good for the forest because local businesses can support the local way of life and community.

For younger age groups, or those less familiar with some of these activities, you may wish to select just a few of the 30 cards provided

There are no right or wrong answers.

Activity survey

Take a poll in the class and chart the results. Which activities would you enjoy doing? Which do you think happen most often? Are there any activities which have a bigger impact or cause a problem if a lot of people do them (over a year or all at once). You could even score activities and multiply them by popularity!

Follow this up by designing your own tally chart and doing a survey yourselves as part of a visit to the forest!

Activities & the impacts on the New Forest

Cycling

Dog walking

Bird-watching

Camping

Fishing

Horse-riding

Walking

Kayaking

Kite-surfing

Sailing

Pubs

Historic buildings

Hotels

Archaeology

Livestock

Wildlife

Scenery

Picnicking

Shopping

Sightseeing

Fungal forays

Bat watching

Local produce

Deer spotting

Running

Restaurants

Caravanning

Guided walks

Relaxing

Tourist attractions

Education trips

Visiting villages

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