Join the New Forest Awakening Festival 2025: A month-long celebration of nature and climate action
PUBLISHED ON: 19 FEBRUARY 2025Dozens of organisations in and around the New Forest are inviting people to join in with the New Forest Awakening Festival which runs throughout March 2025.
Run by the New Forest National Park Authority, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary year, the annual festival around climate and nature focuses on the special qualities of the New Forest, the small actions we can all take to help protect it, and what organisations are doing to help tackle the twin climate and nature crises in the National Park.
Now in its fifth year, the festival offers a month-long timetable of events including wildlife walks and talks, free bike maintenance drop-ins, repair cafes, film screenings and seed growing masterclasses.
You can find out more about the New Forest’s trees, learn more about sustainable woodland management, and have a go at hedge laying. Go behind the scenes at a local sustainable brewery and meet the New Forest’s fantastic local food producers.
There’s also a chance to join Forest rangers to find out more about New Forest ponies, experience the magic of the dawn chorus, and discover the special qualities of our National Park.
The Awakening 2025 calendar starts with a community planting event at New Park in Brockenhurst. People are invited to help create nearly 400 metres of native hedging – around 3,000 plants – that will provide vital habitats for wildlife and leave a lasting legacy for future generations.
Messages about the New Forest climate and nature emergencies have been seen by more than 4.5 million people through the New Forest Awakening Festival; while 570,000 people have attended events, viewed videos, commented, liked or shared social posts.
The New Forest is a very special place. More than 50% is of international importance for nature, and many areas have the highest possible conservation status.
It has the largest area of lowland heath in Western Europe, shaped by the free-roaming animals owned by commoners. Commoning is the traditional system of land management with rights attached to land and properties allowing people to turn out ponies, cattle, sheep and pigs onto the open Forest.
The rare heathland and wetland habitats in the New Forest are an ark for nature, supporting rare wildlife, some of which are declining in other parts of the UK.
Ground nesting birds such as the curlew, Dartford warbler and mystical nightjar can all be found in the New Forest. All six species of the UK’s native reptiles live here too, as well as 63% of Britain’s 24,000 types of insects, 75% of all dragonfly species and over 2,700 types of fungi.
The climate emergency is putting these fragile landscapes and habitats under threat, with hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters changing nature’s balance. The global crisis for nature is mainly due to land management practices, pollution and urban expansion. It is being worsened by a changing climate that is driving changes in the numbers and distribution of our wildlife species.
Mary Davies, National Park Authority board member and chair of its Sustainable Communities Fund said: ‘It takes a team of people to protect the National Park for future generations, and the New Forest Awakening Festival shines a spotlight on how special this part of the world is.
‘It’s a real community effort with lots of opportunities to find out what people are already doing near you and how you can help make a difference, as well as the chance to enjoy and learn more about the National Park.’
The New Forest Awakening Festival programme, with more events being added daily, is available here: www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/awakening.
Also search for @newforestnpa for updates on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
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Main photo by Peter LeCointe
