In 1945, the nation was promised and needed its new National Parks, described by Ministers at the time as the “Natural Health Service”. These were created to help offer improved health and wellbeing for everyone, alongside the newly created NHS. Today, both the NHS and our National Parks are a cherished national resource and play a vital role in the wellbeing of our communities and society.
A Dorset National Park was recommended in the 1945 first official report on National Parks. The Government has made a commitment to establish new National Parks and we look forward to early action to make this commitment a reality. National Parks help people and nature to thrive. More than ever, Dorset deserves and needs a National Park. It is unfinished business and long overdue.
Some of the building blocks are in place. At this challenging time for us all, we can celebrate the announcement of the UK’s first Super National Nature Reserve here in Dorset: see www.theguardian.com . Seven organisations and landowners have come together to create this Super-NNR. As Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said, this is a landmark project: “Purbeck Heaths is a trailblazing example of how landscape-scale conservation can help wildlife thrive, improve people’s well-being, and build resilience to climate change.” The Super-NNR is a welcome step towards a Dorset National Park. A National Park would bring additional resources and expertise so we can create even more linkages and stronger partnerships across Dorset. “Good things happen when people work together.”
Working through partnerships lies at the heart of the way National Parks operate. A Dorset National Park Partnership should be part of a positive and restorative vision for our future. It would contribute to a successful and sustainable economic recovery and a greener future for farming and the countryside and help ensure a thriving, healthy future for our communities, economy and environment, Dorset-wide. It would work to support and improve physical and mental health and wellbeing for local people and visitors, of all ages. As independent research shows, a National Park can deliver great benefits for Dorset and the nation.
Dorset’s environment is here to inspire and encourage us all, lift our spirits and provide space for us to enjoy a breath of fresh air! With a National Park we can achieve even more for nature and for people. Please enjoy the website, keep in touch with National Park News, join the Facebook group and share your photographs.
Keep safe and best wishes from the Dorset National Park Team.
Photograph credit: Millie Pilkington/The Guardian