Overview

• New Forest District Council issued a formal letter confirming that more than 700 commoners self-identify as a national minority.
• The Commoners’ Defence Association is assembling evidence to support a submission to the UK government under the 1995 Council of Europe framework for minority protections.
• Leaders warn that uncertain funding and upcoming local government reorganisation threaten their institutional voice and traditional land-use practices.
• The community’s roughly 720 rights holders, most in their 70s, rely on practices such as pannage, pony round-ups and Boxing Day point-to-point races to manage the forest ecosystem.
• Monthly Verderers’ Court hearings, a system in place since 1016, underscore the commoners’ role in regulating grazing and conserving the New Forest.