Forestry England Maps 100 Hectares Destroyed in New Forest Fire, Warning Recovery Will Take Decades
Updated
Updated · Advertiser and Times · Aug 21
Forestry England Maps 100 Hectares Destroyed in New Forest Fire, Warning Recovery Will Take Decades
3 articles · Updated · Advertiser and Times · Aug 21
Summary
More than 100 hectares of New Forest heathland near Ringwood were burned in a blaze that lasted over a week, wiping out vegetation, rare pillwort and a significant number of ancient beech and oak trees.
Forestry England said the fire spread from a van fire on the A31, burned deep into the ground and destroyed seed banks and parts of the bog habitat, sharply worsening the ecological damage.
Wednesday's rescue operation with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation relocated surviving wildlife, while Forestry England said commoners' livestock had been able to move into unaffected parts of the forest.
Recovery plans will use heather cuttings from a nearby site restored after a fire nearly 40 years ago, but Forestry England said full natural recovery is likely to take decades.
The site remains an active incident, the public has been told to stay away, and the A31 remains shut in both directions as road repairs continue into the weekend.