Heathland

It's easy to view all heathland as a naturally occurring environment, although, that would be wrong, particularly with respect to the New Forest. As with a fair proportion of English heathland, the forest heaths are anthropogenic, that is created by human activity and without maintenance would return to scrub and wood. On Ibsley Common that maintenance continues, with shrub and small trees being removed and gorse thickets thinned or cleared; opened views and smouldering fires testament to this activity.