View the stunning film of the New Forest taken last week to mark the award

Like many visitors to the New Forest, I’m keen to get a closer look at the stout-nosed ponies that graze the ancient landscape. But as darkness falls, it’s not the time.

Anthony Climpson, tourism destinations manager at the district council, is behind the wheel and we’re creeping along one of the unfenced roads that crisscross the UK’s smallest national park – a destination that has been awarded overall winner of this year’s Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards, organised by responsibletravel.com.

The more Climpson tells me about the crucial relationship between tourism and livestock – grazing animals manage the land, keeping it cropped and tidy and attractive to visitors – the more I worry about how hard it is to spot the stocky creatures as they saunter along the verges of the road, their coats blending with grassy mounds in the background.

Thankfully, there’s a 40mph speed limit, introduced in the early Nineties, which gives you an idea of how long the New Forest has been working to protect its wildlife.

Anyway, I needn’t have fussed. Climpson has every reason to drive cautiously. He is campaigning to close several roads in the middle of the forest and works closely with a livestock accident prevention project. Except for one night when he narrowly avoided collision with a deer, he has managed 20 years of working in the area without an animal accident.

“It’s more likely to be people who use the roads all the time who hit something,” he confides. “Tourists are blamed, but that is the remains of a scapegoat culture.”

Climpson has been working to reverse negative attitudes towards outsiders for as long as he has been here, encouraging people to appreciate the benefits of an industry that supports the local economy and encourages thriving communities. (For his efforts, he has also won the award for best personal contribution in this year’s Responsible Tourism Awards.) He tells me that getting visitors to behave responsibly is only half the story; you have to engage local and regional communities as well.

This is Climpson’s job, to balance the needs and demands of the various groups that contribute to New Forest tourism. “Tourism is the ultimate team game,” he says. “You have to work together. You have to take pride in what you do.” You can see why Climpson is making waves.

Steadily working towards his vision of what he calls “proper tourism” for more than 20 years, he displays relentless energy. We stride around the forest, admiring its soggy mattress of fallen leaves and moss-streaked oak trees: him keeping up a steady flow of information about initiatives and schemes; me trying to take it on board without tripping over one of the gnarled tree roots.

I get a sense of how established responsible travel is here and the amount of work required to sustain it. From wildflower meadows being planted to encourage butterflies to reflective collars being put on ponies to make them visible at night. I even meet a man who tags trees, nurturing each one with as much care as the commoners show their New Forest pigs and ponies.

But what stands out most is the extent to which people are working together. There’s a huge amount of linking up going on, albeit in an informal manner. According to Rick Manley, one of the 400 or so commoners (whose rights include grazing their animals in the open forest), the catalyst was the foot-and-mouth crisis in 2001.

“With the forest under threat, everyone involved came together,” he says. “We realised what we had and how much people cared about it; letters and e-mails came in from around the world.”

This year’s challenge has been to promote car-free travel. Climpson admits that many people still arrive by car; the idea is to get them away from their vehicles once they are here. Hotels work with bike shops to provide two-wheeled alternatives and with tourist information centres, which give guests details on walks and activities.

Careys Manor, where I stayed, offers a 10 per cent discount to guests who come by public transport – it will even pick you up from the station at no extra charge.

Another example of regional networking is the New Forest Marque scheme, which certifies local produce and promotes its use by local businesses. On menus, you see the logo, so you can choose dishes that have travelled no farther than the borders of the forest. They are the ones that taste best, too.

The scheme followed the success of the New Forest Breakfast, created in 2004. A hearty combination of local sausages, bacon, eggs and field mushrooms – guaranteed to set you up for a day walking or cycling – it is available in 25 hotels and restaurants.

Far and away the best food I taste is at the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Poussin, at Whitley Ridge hotel. The owner and chef, Alex Aitken, has his own butcher on site, and accompanying my New Forest venison is the most delicious nugget of haggis I have ever tasted.

This kind of high-end establishment you might expect to have an ethical food policy, but I did not anticipate the range of sustainable measures adopted by Sandy Balls, a holiday park in a tranquil setting along the River Avon. First impressions are misleading. You pull in off the road to see dozens of static caravans and mobile homes lined up in front of a central area with a restaurant and sports centre.

Look closely, however, and the Welcome Building has a grass roof, growing with sedum plants, which insulate the building. The restaurant is light and airy with glass doors to reduce electricity costs, and the pool is partly heated by solar pipes. Log cabins have recycling bins for glass, paper, cans and bottles.

The cabins are being fitted with energy-saving bulbs, water-saving taps and eco-boilers. I’m impressed, but also impatient to get back on my pony hunt. With only a few hours left in the forest, I’ve vowed not to leave until I’ve heard the clatter of wild hooves.

Turns out there’s a cycle hire shop five minutes’ walk from my hotel, so I borrow a mountain bike and race out of Brockenhurst. Bumping over boggy dips and fallen branches, it’s the perfect way to get around: you can immerse yourself in the forest with minimal risk of mowing down any wildlife.

It’s not long before a huddle of fur trots into view. Well briefed about not touching the ponies (they are not as sweet as they look) or feeding them (they hang around where they were last fed, usually near a road), I am content to watch as they graze in the distance, peacefully playing their part in the park’s inclusive tourism strategy without even knowing it.

Need to know

Anna Shepard stayed at Careys Manor Hotel and Spa (01590 623551, www.careysmanor.com). One night’s B&B costs from £75pp. Whitley Ridge (01590 622354, www.whitleyridge.co.uk) has dinner, B&B from £95pp.
Further information: www.newforest.co.uk.

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