Rewilding Our National Parks
The recent announcement ahead of COP 28 that both Welsh and English governments will create two new National Parks is to be applauded. On the face of it, more space for nature, beauty & people is a big step forward, yet expectations for improvements to overall ecosystem health and biodiversity should be tempered. This trepidation derives from the health of nature in our existing National Parks, and our impact on wildlife in these new parks may be marginal unless we take action to not only protect what we have, but to reimagine what a National Park is for.
“Our National Parks are a microcosm of our relationship with nature; much loved but severely depleted.”
Each year, National Parks across the UK welcome millions of visitors offering an escape from congested city life, providing fresh country air and open views that have inspired volumes of poetry, songs & cultural heritage. As well as areas of enjoyment for city dwellers, they are places of tradition and work. Although the landscapes have been there in perpetuity, the oldest National Park, the Peak District, only dates back to 1951. The statutory objectives of our National Parks are to preserve and enhance natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage, as well as promoting opportunities for public understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the Parks. In this article, we make the case that our National Parks are currently stuck preserving a traditional idea of beauty at the expense of the health of our wildlife, and that this paradigm must shift if we are to see progress.
A stunning landscape with a complete lack of vegetation.
Millions of photos and videos are taken each year highlighting the natural beauty of the 15 National Parks. Images of vast green fields, moorlands, and dramatically shaped hills dotted with sheep or conifer plantations are seen as iconic representations of the Great British countryside. These barren, stark and awe-inspiring landscapes are held in the collective consciousness of Britain, idealised as beautiful and even natural. However, natural it is not — hundreds, if not thousands, of years of harmful practices such as deforestation, draining of land and overgrazing have left their mark. And the impact on nature has been catastrophic. Despite 12% of the land mass of Great Britain being within National Parks, the UK remains one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world (1). Even the beauty of our National Parks begins to fade when you notice the total absence of wildlife. Like sobering up from a night out, a luscious green field surrounded by stone walls begins to look more like a fenced astro-turf pitch. When you compare in your mind’s eye what our National Parks could look like, drawing from wilder Parks like Yellowstone (United States), Corcovado (Costa Rica) or Mana Pools (Zimbabwe), one feels equal parts despair and equal parts hope at what could come.
By taking a deeper look at the role and history of our National Parks, we may be able to carve out a future for our parks that not only supports rural farming communities and livelihoods, but encourages nature and a slice of the wild back into our land.
The current picture
Nearly 400,000 people live and work within National Parks across the UK (2). Many of them live within rural communities and many of whom farm the land in our parks. In fact the vast majority of our National Parks are farmed, with the Peak District coming in at 90% farmland (3). The presence of humans dependent on the land for their livelihoods means that those responsible for managing National Parks must balance the needs of communities with the needs of wildlife. Managing this tension is not an easy job and the challenge is compounded by the myriad of owners of land within National Parks, spanning private landowners, tenant farmers, utility ownership and common ownership, all of which have different and sometimes competing priorities.
Take common land. A third of the land of the Brecon Beacons, Dartmoor and the New Forest National Parks is common land, meaning that ‘commoners’ or 7000 commoner farmers can actively graze their cattle and sheep on the land (4). Going back to the time of the Magna Carta (1215), access to common land has supported hundreds of generations of families and communities. These communities have looked after the land, protecting it from threats of fire, flooding and vandalism. Custodians of the land for generations, farmers have also incorporated common land as an integral part of their business models. However, as a result of changes to farming practices and population growth, these commons in our National Parks have become increasingly degraded from an ecological perspective, providing an example of the tragedy of the commons.
Short grass and sheep, a very common view in our National Parks.
These changes to farming practices are varied and date back several centuries. For example, traditional farming techniques used up till the 19th century meant that sheep would be kept inside over winter and then would be sent up to the common land for grazing in the summer, giving the commons much needed time for recovery (5). Even further back when wolves roamed our lands, shepherds had to look after their flocks 24/7, continually moving them through the landscapes in tighter groups. This form of sheep farming allowed the land to regenerate after grazing, enabling habitats to grow which supported diverse wildlife. However, wolves were hunted to extinction in the 15th Century and in the early 1900’s, hardier sheep breeds were introduced allowing farmers to leave their sheep to graze in the uplands all year around, giving the land no fallow periods to recover. The final death blow for the health of our iconic landscapes came in the 1960’s with the introduction of subsidies designed to support sheep farmers in the face of falling wool prices. In the height of the wool trade, the UK’s sheep population hovered at around 25 million, but then conversely as demand for fleeces dropped, sheep numbers increased to a peak of 45 million in the early 2000s. Meaning that the high numbers of sheep we have in the UK are a policy decision, rather than a natural occurrence. Not to mention that sheep are also not native to the UK, but originate from Asia Minor. To summarise, our idea of ‘traditional’ sheep farming is only traditional to the past 40 years or so and its impact on the landscape of our National Parks is far from natural.
Environmental damage in our National Parks is not limited to sheep, however. Conifer plantations seeded after World War II have led to environmentally barren forests throughout our national parks (6). Similarly, unaware governments desperate to find more agricultural land and improve our food security drained vast amounts of peatland releasing mega-tonnes of carbon into the air and damaging important and unique habitats.
Monoculture conifer trees planted for timer and/or carbon. Life requires variety to thrive and plantations like this have been called ‘green deserts'.’
A lack of environmental protection, a desire to achieve short term economic gains and ignorance to the impact on nature has created an environment where just 6.5% of land in the UK is protected for nature, way off the 30% of land that was committed by the government during the Glasgow COP. As a result, 43% of bird species and 31% of amphibians are at risk of extinction (7). Rather than being havens for struggling wildlife, our National Parks are a microcosm of our relationship with nature; much loved but severely depleted.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a path available that creates both thriving local economies and rich and flourishing wildlife. Getting there is essential if we are to tackle our climate and biodiversity goals and create National Parks fit for our future.
So what should we do?
The land comprising our National Parks spans various types of habitats, ownership & designation. Lets focus in on 3 key areas where we can protect our environment and ensure that any new or existing National Parks serve nature, people and culture.
These are by no means the only indicators of success for more diverse and ecologically rich national parks, but leveraging rewilding principles across a larger area in our Parks can help us to protect and expand areas of scientific and ecological importance, expand native woodland cover and restore our peatlands, all at a relatively low cost.
1. Sites of Special Scientific Interest
23% of our National Parks are protected as SSSIs. Protecting our unique and environmentally important habitats from development or mis-use is essential if we are to deliver more wildlife friendly habitats. Natural England and similar bodies in devolved states have introduced protected sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) to achieve this. These are sites which have high conservation value and as such need to be managed effectively.
The Government’s objective is to achieve "favourable condition" for all SSSIs, meaning the sites, habitats and features are in a healthy state and are being conserved with appropriate management. SSSIs across the UK are currently in poor condition and embarrassingly, only a quarter of the SSSIs within our national parks is in “favourable”, or “good” condition (8). In other words, although all of our National Parks should ‘protect and enhance’ wildlife, only 6.25% of the total landmass is in a decent ecological condition. One of the reasons that SSSIs in our National Parks are degraded is because they are over-grazed, often by sheep, in high numbers, which our ecosystems haven’t evolved to sustain.
Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. Logged and mined up until 1960, this park is now one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. When the park was formed, local farmers recieved funding to re-train to protect the natural world. It is now a growing economic region. The environmental protections are so tightly held that the removal of a wasps’ nest on a walking path requires government approval.
Steps to take
In these core areas that are designated for wildlife conversation, the needs of nature should outweigh the needs of food production. In most countries around the world, the idea that a National Park is farmed at all seems crazy, let alone the core areas of those National Parks dedicated to nature. Although there are already regulations in place for Commoners who graze their animals on SSSIs, they are clearly not going far enough to protect and restore these special habitats.
In these special areas, an important step would be to dramatically limit or ban sheep grazing and prioritise low intensity grazing of native horses, deer and cattle, mimicking the natural functions of our ecosystems. The new subsidy system, known as ELMs, rewards environmental land management including sustainable farming and local nature and landscape recovery, but its likely that there will need to be a more ambitious offer if we are to reverse the downward trend of habitat destruction in our Parks.
Lessons from abroad prove that change is possible. After introducing ambitious payments for landowners to protect their land instead of farm it, forest cover in Costa Rica now accounts for 52 per cent of the country’s land surface area, up from 26 per cent in 1983 (9). Those who had relied on deforestation for their income turned to protecting their valuable natural resource. The impact on the economy, tourism and nature is clear. Costa Rica with a landmass of only 0.03% of the Earth’s surface is home to 5% of species found worldwide and Costa Rica is one of the most flourishing countries in Central America (10). After generations of declining nature in Britain, a truly ambitious project on the scale of Costa Rica is required. If we can’t properly protect the 23% of our National Parks designated as SSSIs, our chances of reversing biodiversity loss in Britain are looking very poor. For those concerned about the impact Britain’s food security, lamb only makes up 1% of Britain’s calorie intake and most of our lamb is exported. There is undoubtedly space for sheep & wildlife to co-exist in Britain, but in certain core areas we need to prioritise our failing wildlife.
2. Woodlands
The UK remains one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with a significant factor being the lack of native woodland cover, particularly in our National Parks. Meant to be areas that support diverse habitats, the reality is that there’s less woodland cover in the Yorkshire Dales than London, less in the Peak District than Leeds, and less in the Lake District than Sheffield. Just 7% of broadleaf woods are in good condition (11). Great British woodland once supported a huge variety of habitats supporting an even broader array of wildlife, but today overall woodland cover across all national parks in England is less than 15% (12).
Steps to take
Native woodland
Recent research has indicated that we could increase this to 34% without impacting protected areas, infringing on priority habitats or without affecting valuable farmland (13). Widening native woodland cover would ensure that new habitats are created that not only support our struggling native species but draws down carbon, cleans our air and limits flooding.
One of the most effective ways of extending existing woodlands is to limit grazing, allowing both scrubland and woodland time to regenerate naturally. This rewilding approach to tree regeneration comes with many benefits, namely lower costs, no plastic guards, increased biodiversity and improved carbon sequestration.
In some cases, where tree cover is very low and the soil holds few dormant seeds, natural tree regeneration may struggle and selective diverse tree planting might be necessary. In the Lake District, the National Park authorities have recognised the impact a lack of woodlands has and have planted three new upland woodlands. Clearly projects such as this are resource and financially intense, and as such Park Authorities and land owners with limited budgets will be looking for greater support from both public and private funding. A two tonged approach to woodland development is fundamental if we are to increase our woodland cover within national parks.
3. Peatlands:
Peatlands make up 12% of the UK’s land mass, providing over a quarter of our drinking water and a significant amount of carbon (14). In the 1950s and 60s, large swathes of the British countryside were drained for agricultural land, resulting in the destruction of extensive and unique habitats. The current situation is grim, with 80% of the UK’s peatlands in a damaged state. Globally, peatlands cover just 3% of land, yet contain 30% of all soil carbon, and when peatlands are drained and dried, they become a significant carbon emitter (15)
“Globally, peatlands cover just 3% of land, yet contain 30% of all soil carbon”
Steps to take
Re-wetting our peatlands is one of the most effective ways of restoring the habitat and switching them from a carbon source to a carbon sink. Re-wetting can involve blocking existing drainage ditches or underground tunnels, restoring in-flows or turning off drainage pumps. Practically these steps are for the most part quick and cheap to take, however politically, reversing a long-held practice of draining can be challenging. Fortunately, authorities are aware of the climate and biodiversity benefits of peatlands and are already restoring them throughout the country. For example, in central Snowdonia, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and National Trust Cymru have been restoring crucial peat habitats on the Migneint, which includes Llyn Conwy—the source of the River Conwy. By rewetting peatlands, authorities have recreated habitats for amphibians and birds while preventing peat erosion. When peat particles erode, they flow into rivers, adversely impacting wildlife, and in particular salmon, sea trout, and brown trout eggs (16). Salmon stocks are at an all-time low in England and Wales, and peatland restoration is a vital tool in regenerating these magnificent creatures, as well as the economies and communities that fish support. Increased private investment would accelerate and expand this work.
Summary
Realising the potential of our National Parks requires bold decisions. In creating new national parks we have the potential to inspire people to enjoy and protect nature, whilst providing core areas for our wonderful wildlife to flourish. But to get there, we must reimagine what our National Parks are for, and allow our conception of what is beautiful to evolve beyond the stark and bare hills we experience today, to a more dynamic and thriving beauty.
We must change the system of subsidies for the many landowners in our National Parks to guide them towards supporting the new priorities of today, namely locking up carbon, improving biodiversity and reducing flooding & drought, rather than incentivising a system of consistent overgrazing for the sake of marginal food production & tradition. Farming has a long history of constant adaptation and evolution, adeptly embracing the new demands of the public. The step to embrace wilder farming in our National Parks is just the next step in a long history of constant adaptation and evolution, and we cannot let the current state of maintained degradation to continue.
When the public required high numbers of fleeces, farmers met the demand, and when we needed to improve food security post WW2, farmers successfully tripled yields (17). But the needs of today have changed, and our system of incentivisation must change with it. The new environmental land management scheme (ELMS) embodies this thinking, recognising that public money should be spend on public goods, but we need to ensure that particularly within our National Parks, and even more so in the SSSIs within those parks, that we rapidly guide farmers to embrace low intensity wilder farming practices, leading the charge in reversing biodiversity loss and habitat destruction
(1) https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/29/state-of-nature/
(2) https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimate
(3) https://www.thegreatoutdoorsmag.com/news/why-are-our-national-parks-failing-to-protect-nature/
(4) https://www.thegreatoutdoorsmag.com/news/why-are-our-national-parks-failing-to-protect-nature/
(5) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2023/11/22/is-sheep-farming-finished-on-dartmoor/
(7) https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/29/state-of-nature/
(9) https://www.positive.news/environment/costa-rica-doubles-its-forest-cover-in-30-years/
(10) https://ticotimes.net/2022/10/11/costa-rica-national-parks-understanding-their-importance
(11) https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/our-cause/nature-climate/state-of-nature-report-2023
(14) https://www.ceh.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Peatland%20factsheet.pdf)
(15)https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/bulletins/uknaturalcapitalforpeatlands/naturalcapitalaccounts
(17) http://www.ecifm.rdg.ac.uk/postwarag.htm