Parks and recreation 

For all their popularity, the design of Britain’s national parks and the framework in which they operate are products of their age. The legislators of 1949, and certainly those running the first 10 parks created in the 1950s, couldn’t have foreseen the massive growth in domestic tourism and car ownership, the transformation of farming and its impact on the countryside, or the biodiversity crash that’s now unfolding.  

Britain’s national park model is very different to many of its counterparts overseas. Instead of wilderness sanctuaries with all-encompassing conservation objectives and tight controls on visitors, the land in Britain’s national parks is largely privately owned and they are living, working landscapes. Nationally funded but locally run, it’s perhaps no wonder that, despite the accolades, they constantly have to battle threats ranging from inappropriate development and damaging land practices to the excesses of mass tourism.  

The national park authorities also face a challenge themselves. How do these rural-based institutions with a national remit reach out to an increasingly urban, digital and diverse population? A decade ago, Natural England estimated that only 1% of visitors to English national parks were from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, despite these groups making up about 14% of the overall population. Recent initiatives to draw a more diverse range of people have seen some success, but there’s still a way to go before national park visitors are reflective of society at large. Furthermore, research in 2019 by the countryside charity CPRE suggests that distance and transport difficulties make national parks not easily accessible for up to a third of people in England.  

It’s this personal and often lifelong connection that is at the heart of national parks’ enduring appeal, as Ramblers vice-president Kate Ashbrook testifies: ‘National parks have been in my blood from an early age. My riding holidays on Dartmoor inspired me to fight for them. For me, they are uplifting places where I find beauty, splendour and tranquillity. Despite the many threats they face, I feel confident that they will endure. They are our natural health service.’  

Everyone seems to have their own special national park, a favourite place of memories and attachment. For Ramblers president Amar Latif, it’s the charm of the Yorkshire Dales, close to his home in Leeds. His formative experience completing the gruelling Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge was also memorable: ‘The feeling of being out in nature, in the countryside and mountains for the first time – oh, my goodness! That’s what sparked my passion.’ 

National parks have the potential to encourage big thinking and bold strategic approaches. Faced with the twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, Britain’s national parks are pioneering ambitious landscape-scale projects based on natural solutions. The Great North Bog aims to restore upland peat across northern England – including four national parks – thereby locking in carbon and tackling flooding at source. Meanwhile, the Big Chalk programme is a partnership promoting nature conservation across the calcareous (chalk and limestone) landscapes of southern England, involving the South Downs National Park among others.  

Elsewhere, national parks in England are involved in agricultural transition by delivering the government’s Farming in Protected Landscapes funding programme. Meanwhile, the UK’s national parks have become the first in the world to join the Race to Zero initiative, aiming to halve carbon emissions within their landscapes by 2030 and become significant carbon sinks by 2050.

New park proposals 

Today, there are 15 national parks across the UK, and that number looks set to rise. The recent announcement by the Scottish Government that it’s investigating the suitability of Galloway (in south-west Scotland) to become the country’s third national park is warmly welcomed by Brendan Paddy, director of Ramblers Scotland. 

‘It’s a golden opportunity to create a modern and more inclusive national park focused on improving people’s health and wellbeing, connections with nature, and showing how rights of way and public access should be properly managed,’ she says. ‘This new model can build on what’s gone before, but also respond to new challenges and set the standard for future designations.’ 

Despite political parties’ pre-election promises of new national parks in England, the focus here is on reversing deep cuts to the parks’ budgets and pressing other public bodies to carry out their new legal duty to advance the purposes of national parks. There’s also growing interest in different models of national park, including self-styled national park cities such as London, with an emphasis on connecting people with nature, as well as the concept of marine national parks.  

‘The sea is a critical gap in the national park story,’ says Dr Rose O’Neill, chief executive of Campaign for National Parks (CNP). ‘Some of our most important habitats and the pressures across land, coast and sea can only be managed by considering ecosystems together.’ Plymouth Sound has already become Britain’s first national marine park, and CNP is calling for more new designations that jointly embrace land and sea. 

We’ve come a long way since the 1949 Act, but the words of its principal author, John Dower, still ring true today: ‘National parks are not for any privileged or otherwise restricted section of the population, but for all who come to refresh their minds and spirit, and exercise their bodies in a peaceful setting of natural beauty.’  

Andrew McCloy is chair of trustees at Campaign for National Parks