National Park funding threat

22 September 1999

The top mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonington CBE, has warned delegates at a National Parks conference in Pembrokeshire, (on Wednesday, September 22nd) that the biggest threat to the Welsh Parks will be funding cuts, if they are not addressed.

Sir Chris, who is President of the Council for National Parks, is calling on the National Assembly for Wales, which now has the say over National Park funding for the first time, to turn round a legacy of under-funding (a standstill budget for two out of three years).

"Adequate funding is the key to protection of the Parks and to ensuring the vitality of the communities within them", said Sir Chris. "The three Welsh Parks - Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and the Brecon Beacons, which cover 20% of Wales, are having to make do on a shoe-string which is getting shorter all the time. A 17.6 per cent increase is urgently needed.

"At this time when hill farming is in crisis we must all work hard to ensure that those who help conserve the land are supported and that the Park Authorities are given adequate resources to do so.

"I am sure the National Assembly will be making this a priority because not supporting sustainable agriculture on the scale required will seriously damage the fabric of the National Parks in Wales. There have been real cuts in Welsh Park funding compared to recent, significant funding increases in England".

"The Parks are an important source of local jobs and their landscape makes an important contribution to the tourism business. They are forces for innovation in environmental management, social and economic development".

The annual conference of the Association of National Park Authorities is also a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Act of Parliament which set up the Parks.

Sir Chris reminded delegates that National Parks were set up for the post-war generation. Now they needed to reflect quite dramatic changes in society over the last 50 years.

"We know from social changes since the War that National Parks must embrace a large, more diverse, urban audience. We must do that by attracting a wider level of support and understanding from all sections of the community: including people from ethnic communities.

"This doesn't mean millions more visitors to the Parks. But it does mean that a wider range of people will have more opportunities to visit and experience them in an appropriate way. This is the contribution the Parks can make to sustainable development and social inclusion and at the end of the day it means the Parks will be better supported and understood".

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