Funding has fallen by 40% in real terms over the past decade and grants are expected to be flat until 2025 despite rising wage bills and costs. State funding for national parks has been frozen since last year. Figures collated by National Parks England suggest authorities across the country’s 10 parks will have to make cuts of £16m over the next three years. “We are being asked to help fight climate and nature emergencies. We are asked to host 80-some million visitors a year. But we cannot achieve all these targets if our funding is cut,” said David Butterworth, the current chief executive for National Parks England. National parks were established under legislation passed by the post-war Labor government to protect the nation’s most treasured landscapes and provide a war-weary population with opportunities for outdoor recreation. Other parts of the UK are working to open up more national space. The Scottish Government is consulting on the creation of at least one new national park by 2026 and the Welsh Government plans to create a new national park in north-east Wales. But in England, most if not all parks are facing a crisis. Dartmoor National Park, which manages 368 square miles of rugged moorland in Devon, this week began consulting its 100-strong workforce over 15 to 20 redundancies and cuts worth £500,000, which could lead to the closure of an award-winning visitor center . The authority is also considering selling land and historic buildings, including one of the few remaining traditional farmhouses on Dartmoor, to private buyers, who may refuse public access. “We are in the worst financial situation the authority has been in since it was founded [in 1995]. We’re not just planning to cut services – we’re going to have to close services,” said Kevin Bishop, chief executive of Dartmoor National Park. “We are heading for an existential crisis.” We are in the worst financial position the authority has been in since it was founded. Kevin Bishop, Chief Executive of Dartmoor National Park Dartmoor, which receives £3.8m from the Government each year, warned in its latest budget that 21 projects, including the park’s biodiversity action plan and young ranger action plan, could be at risk. The Northumberland National Park Authority, which is responsible for 200 square miles of northern highlands including Hadrian’s Wall, uses its reserves to cover some of its operating costs. Tony Gates, chief executive of the authority, said it had lost more than half its funding since 2010 and needed to find savings of £600,000 by 2025. It was exploring all options to cover the shortfall, including possible cuts to ranger services, road maintenance rights, visitor centers and nature restoration projects. “The finances of all the national parks are on the brink, but Northumberland is the closest to the brink because it receives the least from the government,” he said. “It means we will have to look at reducing frontline services. We may have to stop entire areas of work.” The Cheviot Hills in Northumberland National Park. Photo: Izel Photography/Alamy Staff at the park are already multitasking and working beyond their job descriptions, with many essential functions covered by a single person. “It’s very discouraging. People who work for national parks – like me – believe in what we’re doing. We believe that Britain’s best landscapes should be looked after and that everyone in society should have the opportunity to access the countryside,” said Gates. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our site and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Landacre Bridge and the River Barle on Exmoor. Photo: James Osmond Photography/Alamy Exmoor National Park, which manages the moorland and wooded dales in the northern reaches of Somerset and Devon, is getting £1m less in grant than in 2010. It will have to make a further £500,000 worth of cuts by 2025. Sarah Brian, the park’s chief executive, said the authority was considering closing up to two of its three visitor centres, making redundancies “across the organisation” and handing over the management of 1,000km (620 miles) of trails to local councils counties, which are facing budget shortfalls of their own. He said the authority may also have to sell land “owned by the nation” and increase charges for using its car parks, which would discourage people on low incomes. The Yorkshire Dales National Park will have a budget deficit of £1.3m by 2025, the biggest deficit of any English authority. “Honestly, I am disappointed and disappointed. Opportunities to make a difference [to climate change] are lost. If the nature and climate crisis is not addressed quickly, none of us have a future,” said Butterworth, who is also chief executive of Yorkshire Dales. A tree on the limestone pavements above the village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. Photo: George Robertson/Alamy A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We understand the very difficult economic conditions that all sectors are currently facing and the pressures this is putting on our national park authorities in particular. We remain committed to supporting our national park authorities and are working with them to identify additional sources of funding, particularly through private investment.”
