Nature Wildlife Of The Forest Of Dean And Wye Valley

Nature & Wildlife

Of the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley.

From the 20 million trees in the Forest of Dean to the 58 mile long Wye Valley AONB, our natural beauty, dramatic landscapes and plethora of flora and fauna are what make our area so unique. You can walk for miles along glorious paths and see a wide range of local plants, trees and animals. You can spot unusual birds in a number of reserves, hear the most divine dawn chorus, see deer and boar if you're lucky, and in fact you may even see some of our resident wildlife from your holiday accommodation. Nature is at the heart of the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley and in these pages we hope you will learn a little more about what makes this area so special.

About the Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean was recorded as The Forest in the 'Domesday Book' (1086) and as Dene or Dean after the Old English Denu for valley. In medieval times it was a royal hunting forest, before becoming a source of timber for the navy's Tudor warships. By Victorian times it was a major site of industry, with coal mining and tramways punctuating the landscape. In 1924 it was transferred to the Forestry Commission and in 1938 it was designated as the first National Forest Park in England. Today, it is still a working forest and Forestry England manages it sympathetically and sensitively while liaising on conservation matters with the main conservation bodies.

The Forest of Dean is bound by the rivers Wye to the north and west, and the Severn to the south and east. Around the Forest are rolling hills, farms and vineyards and many interesting villages and towns. These ancient woodlands and its variety of wildlife hold many surprises just waiting to be discovered.

About the Wye Valley

The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is an internationally important protected landscape, first designated an AONB in 1971. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscapes in Britain and straddles the border between England and Wales. Although the River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK at 134 miles long, the Wye Valley AONB covers the southern-most 126 sq miles, from Hereford in the north to Chepstow in the south where the Wye meets the Severn.

Having the same level of protection as a National Park, the purpose of the AONB is to conserve and enhance the outstanding landscape of the Wye Valley, so that we, and future generations, can enjoy it. The Wye Valley offers a varied and contrasting geographical landscape, from the flatter Herefordshire valley with a winding river, to dramatic limestone cliffs with nesting peregrine falcons.