“You can’t put a price on nature. You can’t quantify the uplifting effects of a walk in the Peak District or the way your soul soars at the sight of a stormy Cornish cliff. Except, it turns out you can: it’s worth almost £5 trillion a year. Economists have calculated the mental health benefits of the world’s national parks and concluded that on this measure alone they provide services amounting to a significant proportion of global GDP. And that is before you consider all the

A Briefing Update The Glover Review was asked to consider how our designated landscapes (National Parks and AONBs), could do even more for our communities, local economy and environment in the 21st century. It proposes that Dorset as well as the Cotswolds and Chilterns should be considered for National Park status. Many organisations and individuals across Dorset and further afield hope the Dorset Council will seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure a National Par

The following makes the case for Dorchester and its landscape to be included in the Dorset & East Devon National Park. The full report can be found HERE. Dorchester and the boundary of the proposed Dorset and East Devon National Park: why Dorchester and its landscape setting should be included within the proposed National Park. Executive Summary. 1. Should a National Park be designated, the Dorchester Civic Society wishes to see Dorchester and its surrounding landscape settin

Our latest newsletter includes a welcome for the Glover Review of Designated Landscapes (a great opportunity for Dorset), notes how a Dorset NP would work in partnership with the new Dorset Council, and features recent articles - including in Dorset Life. Click here to read the newsletter. #dorset #tourism #localgovtreorg #nationalpark #economy #devolution #purbeck #magazine #newsletter

The Dorset National Park Team welcomes the statement by Michael Gove, Secretary of State for DEFRA, that the Government’s review of designated areas to be led by Julian Glover will consider whether more national parks are needed. A Dorset National Park was first proposed along with others which have subsequently gone ahead in a Government report of 1945. For reasons specific to the time it was not then progressed. But now there is cross-county and cross-party support for cons

The Dorset coast is one of the most important areas for rock climbing in Britain and attracts many visitors from across the UK and from overseas. There is a wide variety of climbing available, and the mild climate of the South Coast allows climbing all year round. Climbing has a long heritage in Dorset. Sport Rock climbing started in the 1960s on the limestone sea cliffs near Swanage, which extend for 8 km between Durlston Head and St Aldhelm’s Head. DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDY H