MORE than £1m worth of tender loving care is about to be lavished on the New Forest following its cross-Channel marriage with the Forest of Fontainebleau in France.

The two forests have entered into a string of improvement vows, with a huge dowry in the shape of funding from their governments and from the European Commission.

Much of the work will involve finding ways of coping with the teams of visitors who pour into both forests each year - an estimated 18 million in the New Forest and 17 million in the Forest of Fontainebleau - while at the same time looking after their treasured ecology.

The "twinning" project has been given the title of PROGRESS, which has an overall budget of £2.7 million.

"It is about trying to reconcile access and recreation for the public with nature conservation," said the Forestry Commission's New Forest recreation manager, Bruce Rothnie.

With bike riding, horse riding, dog walking and numerous other activities taking place in the New Forest, he hinted that one function of the new initiative will involve sending out 'Don't spoil our forests' messages to the people who visit them.

"We know where people park their cars, but we don't know where many of them go from there or what they want to do in the Forest.

"We will be conducting surveys to find some of those answers.

"One of our aims will be to give them up-to-date information about what they see in the Forest and if they do see something and want to know more about it they will be able to turn on to the Internet and discover what it is," Mr Rothnie added.

The four-year project could also entail re-siting some car parks in a bid to reduce any adverse impact on delicate habitats.

The two forests are describe as similar in size, but Fontainebleau has more in the way of oak and beech woodland than the New Forest, and less in terms of heathland.