Big and open for business

To somewhat paraphrase Douglas Adams (and apologies to the great man) but:

“National Parks are big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big they are. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to a National Park”.

Adams may have originally referred to space, but his observation when applied to National Parks has more than a kernel of truth to it; very few things here on planet Earth are capable of providing us with the same sense of the epic.

The geographical significance of National Parks to Wales is epic.  20% of Wales (give or take a decimal place) and 22% of Wales’ coastline is within a National Park. They attract, entertain and inspire awe in the hearts of 12 million visitors each year who spend in the region of £1 billion in Wales as tourists.  95% of the Welsh public consider National Parks to be important to them and 96% want every child to experience them.  These are all impressive and dare I say epic figures.  They are the product of the special qualities within the National Parks that we have agreed, collectively, to protect and enhance for the benefit of this and future generations.

The many public goods and services the National Parks provide are pretty epic in nature too.  Carbon storage, food, clean air and water are essential for our continued existence as a species. Our history, culture and collective identity are partly products of these landscapes. National Parks are also the “factories of wellbeing” providing special places to relax, reflect, recharge and reconnect.  

Snowdonia National Park

National Parks are also places of business and economic development.  Unlike the wilderness National Parks of the USA, Welsh National Parks are living landscapes, the product of communities living off the land over millennia.  In Wales there is a close-knit relationship between the National Parks and the businesses within them.  Unlike the US, Wales’ National Parks will always be Open for Business, they have never been closed to visitors.  In stark contrast, businesses on the periphery of National Parks in the US felt the pinch this September/October, as tens of millions of tourism dollars were lost every day gates were closed to visitors.  

National Parks Wales, Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Local Government Association have sought to capture the scale of economic value produced by the National Parks. ARUP was commissioned investigate and the numbers are unapologetically, epic.  More than 5,000 businesses operate within National Parks, employing over 29,000 people.  12,771 of those jobs (around 38%) are dependent upon the environment.   The gross value added output of Wales’ National Parks is around £500 million, above the combined GVA of agriculture, fishing, forestry and mining across Wales (£335 million).  National Parks are significant economic entities in their own right.

Brecon Beacons National Park

Not surprisingly given their size, National Park management is complex and largely achieved through the co-operation and assistance of landowners and everyone else with a stake. There is a large patchwork of interests, sometimes competing, sometimes collaborating.  This means that consistency through the planning system, through planning policy and development management is incredibly important if we’re to manage Wales’, epic, mind-boggingly big, spaces for everyone.

Failure to do so and we risk damaging the real and intrinsic value of National Parks, damaging the very qualities making them special. We owe it to future generations to allow them to inherit the wealth of Wales, secure within its protected landscapes.

Greg Pycroft is Policy Officer for National Parks Wales