{"id":24137,"date":"2019-10-08T16:03:48","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T15:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=24137"},"modified":"2019-10-06T17:08:15","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T16:08:15","slug":"independent-review-calls-for-radical-plan-for-englands-national-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=24137","title":{"rendered":"Independent review calls for radical plan for England\u2019s National Parks"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-24138\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Dartmoor_NP_Open_Goverment_Licence_3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" \/>Major review calls for biggest shakeup of the running of England\u2019s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty since they were founded 70 years ago.<\/h3>\n<h6><em>image: Dartmoor National Park &#8211; Open government Licence v3.0<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Department for Environment, Food &amp; Rural Affairs (DEFRA) writes:<\/p>\n<p>Seventy years after the Act of Parliament that created the first National Parks, a major independent review \u2013 led by writer Julian Glover \u2013 has called for bold action to reignite the founding spirit of our great National Park movement in order to make them greener, more beautiful and open to everyone.<\/p>\n<p>The review published on Saturday 21 September praises the brilliant work which has been done to maintain the beauty of places such as the Lake District, Exmoor and the Dorset coast.\u00a0 But it warns that new challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and a changing, urban society mean that new approaches are needed to get the most out of England\u2019s most-loved landscapes, including National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).<\/p>\n<p>Key recommendations include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a new National Landscapes Service to act as a unified body for England\u2019s 44 national landscapes, including 10 National Parks and 34 AONBs<\/li>\n<li>creating a 1,000 strong ranger service to be the \u2018friendly face\u2019 of our national parks and help engage schools and communities<\/li>\n<li>giving every school pupil the opportunity to spend a night \u2018under the stars\u2019 in these special landscapes to help more children to connect with nature<\/li>\n<li>new protections, responsibilities, titles and funding for AONBs to help them be greener, more beautiful and more welcoming to the public<\/li>\n<li>a transformed approach to recover and enhance nature, working with farmers and conservation groups to reverse years of decline and bring landscapes alive<\/li>\n<li>backing for a new National Park in the Chilterns and a new National Forest, taking in areas such as Sherwood Forest, as part of a drive to increase woodland spaces to fight climate change<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which commissioned the review, will now consider the recommendations.\u00a0 Welcoming the findings, Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said: \u2018These landscapes are the jewels in the crown of our countryside and are a cornerstone of our rural economy. We are committed to ensuring they flourish as havens for nature and sites that everyone in the country goes to visit for inspiration, adventure or relaxation.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we asked Julian and his panel to conduct this review and I am very grateful to them for their efforts. I welcome and agree with the spirit of ambition, which is in line with our 25 Year Environment Plan, and we will now carefully consider the recommendations set out in the review.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Julian Glover, who led the review, said: \u2018From the high fells of the Lake District to the wildness of Exmoor, England\u2019s most beautiful places define our country. Today we are setting out a big, bold plan to bring them alive to tackle the crisis in our natural environment and make sure they are there for everyone to enjoy.\u00a0 If we take action, we can make our country healthier, happier, greener, more beautiful and part of all our lives. Seventy years ago this year we created our national parks for a nation that had just won the Second World War. Now it\u2019s time to reignite that mission.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England which is the government\u2019s statutory landscape adviser, said: \u2018We very much welcome the Glover Review and its core message that our national parks and AONBs should be the very backbone of the new Nature Recovery Network that we are working to build. These are the places that often spring to mind when people think about enjoying the natural world and by making them richer in wildlife as well as more accessible we can help people from all walks of life experience their inspirational beauty.\u00a0 The report also raises concerns about the process of designating national landscapes. We share these concerns and have taken steps in recent years to streamline the system where possible, in the context of budget difficulties that lead us to do far less than we would like to.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement builds on existing government commitments to protect and enhance the natural environment, which include a pledge to restore 75% of our protected sites to favourable condition, invest \u00a350 million to help plant new woodlands through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee, and create a vast Northern Forest \u2013 which will see 50 million trees planted from Liverpool to Hull over the next 25 years.<\/p>\n<p>Corinne Pluchino, Chief Executive of Campaign for National Parks said:\u00a0 \u2018We welcome the timely publication of this ambitious agenda for our most beautiful landscapes.\u00a0 There is an pressing need to address the urgent challenges in our National Parks. We will be reviewing the report in detail and will be working to ensure the momentum is maintained.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>AONBs and National Parks are some of England\u2019s most cherished sites, spanning from the Lake District, which was recently announced as a UNESCO World Heritage site, to the picturesque Cornwall AONB.\u00a0 They cover a quarter of England\u2019s land and are home to over 2.3 million people \u2013 with more than 66 per cent of us living within half an hour of a National Park or AONB. They also generate more than \u00a320 billion for the rural economy, and support 75,000 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>The review is one of the key commitments of the government\u2019s 25 Year Environment Plan, which outlines our vision for improving the environment over a generation by connecting people with nature and helping wildlife to thrive.\u00a0 It follows a call for evidence which received more than 2,500 responses on how England\u2019s 10 National Parks and 34 AONBs meet the nation\u2019s needs in the 21st century and whether there is scope for the current network to expand.\u00a0 The review also makes recommendations to introduce more innovative, enterprising ways to generate funds that can be invested in these spaces, in addition to further government funding.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/independent-review-calls-for-radical-plan-for-englands-national-parks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more&#8230;.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major review calls for biggest shakeup of the running of England\u2019s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty since they were founded 70 years ago. image: Dartmoor National Park &#8211; Open government Licence v3.0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24137"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24140,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24137\/revisions\/24140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}