“What makes the Forest of Dean special?”

A SIMPLE question with a multitude of answers, de­pending on who you ask.

For some it’s a birth-right – “Forester born-and-bred” is a matter of pride, a keenly felt identity – while for others there is an attachment through living in, working in, being inspired by or simply enjoying this unique place.

Shining a light on all this is the Foresters’ Forest initiative, 38 community-based projects funded with £2.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund which will, according to programme manager Sue Middleton “uncover, reveal, share and celebrate our heritage.”

The projects, co-ordinated by the Foresters’ Forest Landscape Partnership which is led by the Forestry Commission, are based around five themes: Our Stronghold for Nature, Revealing Our Past, Celebrating our Forest, Exploring our Forest, and Securing Our Future.

Sue said: “Our Forest is a special and unique place and to understand that you have to go back to the underlying geology.

“It is the iron ore and coal which drew people here first and which gives us our built heritage and some of our cultural heritage such as freeminers.

“It is also because of the geology that we have our flora and fauna and which we also need to keep special.

“All our projects address the natural, built or cultural heritage in one way or another.”

The active involvement of local people in the projects is central to the Foresters’ Forest programme with many opportunities to get hands on.

Our Stronghold for Nature provides opportunities to learn about the plants and animals that make the Forest their home.

Important habitats such as waterways, ponds, mires, heathland and woodland need to be maintained and improved and there will be many ways to get involved.

That includes surveying and monitoring plants and wildlife, learning about ancient and notable trees and contributing to their conservation, helping restore waterways and creating accessible ponds and supporting the creation of open habitat and helping maintain it through open grazing.

Revealing our Past will rediscover history and heritage through buildings, buried remains and capturing the memories and craft skills of local people.

Among the projects will be the chance to take forward ariel discoveries made 10 years ago.

Sue said: “A plane flew over the Forest using lidar (light detection and ranging) to record the ground as if the trees were not there.

“Worcestershire Archaeology is leading this project and they are training people to go out in the Forest to look at the lumps and bumps exposed by lidar and say whether they are of interest in archaeological terms.”

Celebrating our Forest takes advantage of the area’s vibrant musical and literary traditions and sites such as the recently renovated Scarr Bandstand at Sling to tell stories about the Forest and its people.

Exploring the Forest is all about discovering the area both above and below ground with improved access at key sites and the assistance of new technologies such as the Hidden Heritage mobile phone app which is free to download at the Apple and Android stores.

Securing the Future is about ensuring the next generation have the same opportunities to experience the heritage of the Forest and to understand and have respect for it.

Lydbrook Primary School has already started on this key aim of the Foresters’ Forest programme.

Headteacher Mr Simon Lusted has re-written the curriculum so

that pupils are immersed in local history so they become even prouder of their Forest heritage and will promote and protect it in future.

Tomorrow (Thursday) they will be holding an open event for other schools across the area to find out how they can use the heritage of the Forest to inspire and engage their pupils.

To learn more about the Forest, children aged between five and 13 can join Forest Explorers, a monthly club held on Saturdays while for 14- to 16-year-olds there is Forest Rangers.

Sue said: “There are lots of things to see, do, explore and get involved in, so we hope people will join us in helping to make sure future generations of Foresters have the same opportunities to know, love and cherish the Forest as we do now.”

For more information about Foresters’ Forest, search for Foresters’ Forest on Facebook.