The New Forest National Park is a unique area of protected and historic land offering visitors the opportunity to explore the unspoilt landscape of Southern England. With tourism a main revenue generator, the National Park were looking for a compelling way of attracting more visitors throughout the year and approached fiNETra to discuss installing LIVE web cameras.

After an initial consult, two cameras were installed within the Park at Balmer Lawn, near Brockenhurst, and Buckler's Hard, part of the Beaulieu Estate. The former offers a unique view of the New Forest landscape from the heart of the National Park. The view includes classic Forest woodland and some of the open lawn areas, offering viewers the potential to see free roaming New Forest ponies and deer. The Buckler's Hard webcam offers a unique view of the spectacular New Forest coastline from the historic village. This includes the Beaulieu River, wooded areas along the banks and the salt marshes, while viewers may also see boats sailing on the water and coastal birds.

And following the success of these initial installations, the Park is keen to consider additional webcams in the future, when funding allows.

"The webcam has quickly become one of the most popular features on our website, it gives people a panoramic view from the heart of the New Forest National Park complete with its famous ponies - perhaps bringing back great memories or as a tantalising taste of a visit to come. And like the New Forest itself, the webcam is something that people are drawn to again and again. A webcam is always one of the first clicks I make on a new website and it's the same for many visitors to our site."

Martin O'Neill - Director of Information and Visitor Services