Foresters spread heather seed across a burned square kilometre of the New Forest

Forestry England has started putting heather seed back on the New Forest ground burned in August. BBC News reported on November 7, 2026, that a fire which spread from a van on August 9 destroyed more than one square kilometre, about 247 acres, of heath and ancient woodland, and in boggy spots burned the peat at the surface. Specialist teams are protecting the most vulnerable ground before winter and reseeding heather.

Heather full of seed was cut from nearby parts of the forest and spread on the worst-burned areas as a mat. The agency used the same method after a 1989 fire in the New Forest and said that older site is thriving and fully restored almost 40 years later. Dave Morris of Forestry England said the boggy parts, which slowed the blaze, are already showing plants and wildlife, while the whole burned area will take many decades. Crews are also looking at how to protect the roots of ancient beech and oak that the fire damaged.

The agency said its teams have reported the first green shoots. The news is that reseeding and the early growth in the wetter ground. It is not a claim that the square kilometre has grown back.