The designation of new national parks seems to be the latest frontier in the culture wars (‘I’ve been compared to Donald Trump’: how neighbour turned on neighbour over Scotland’s new national park, 11 March). Your article draws on the ill-will whipped up by some, but overlooks the evidence and the legacy of designation decisions made decades ago. It quotes statistics from our health check report, but what isn’t mentioned is the finding that nature decline in national parks is happening in spite of the designation, not because of it. The key conclusion of the report is that national parks need greater power and funding in the face of the global climate and biodiversity crisis.
In Scotland, national parks are leading the way – Cairngorms Connect is the UK’s largest habitat restoration across 600 square kilometres. And evidence from Scottish Environment Link found that the two Scottish national parks generate more than £700m per year, investing in nature, landscape and community regeneration, supporting hundreds of jobs directly and thousands through the wider economy.
The UK’s first national park was established in 1951 in the Peak District by a postwar government that could see the power in protecting the nation’s finest landscapes, investing in public health and wellbeing, and regenerating rural communities. The true benefit and purpose of national park designation is to create a legacy. The challenge facing a government designating new national parks is in creating the space for informed and curious debate, focusing on what unites us rather than divides us.
Dr Rose O’Neill
Chief executive, Campaign for National Parks
• Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.
