F E AT U R E By Theo Plowman, Pamela Morris and Alison Barnes
The Glover Report and its impact on national parks
The Glover Report will have a major impact on the development and management of our national parks. Theo Plowman, LI Policy Manager sets the scene, and Pamela Morris (from Exmoor National Park Authority) and Alison Barnes (from New Forest National Park Authority) discuss their work and the implications of the Report’s recommendations. 1
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n September 2019, the Glover review1 of England’s designated landscapes delivered its findings. Seventy years have passed since the first National Parks were created, and the review calls for a dramatic transformation in how designated landscapes deliver for climate, nature and people. The review was commissioned by then Secretary of State Michael Gove but produced by an independent panel led by writer Julian Glover, who travelled the country learning about what works and what can be improved in the management of and access to our national landscapes, including National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). The Landscape Institute submitted a series of recommendations2 to protect designated landscapes’ original purpose, and to maximise public benefit – many of these were adopted by the review. The report argues, among other things, for: • Exploring a potential National 28
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Landscape Service to defragment and improve efficiency in the landscape protection system Reforming National Park governance, and appointing Boards that are smaller, more expert and more representative of wider society Encouraging a wider range of nondesignated protected landscapes (citing the East Midlands’s National Forest and London’s National Park City initiative) Designated landscapes to lead the response to the climate crisis and decline in biodiversity, and on Nature Recovery Networks A partnership with farming that promotes natural recovery and de-emphasises intensification The use of Environmental Land Management (ELM) plans to work with landowners to develop longterm, landscape-scale strategies to improve natural capital in designated landscapes Designated landscapes to do more to encourage new visitors, particularly
those from minority backgrounds (citing the Mosaic model for engaging BAME communities in National Parks, which continues still) The review has largely been met with optimism across the sector but there remain concerns about how these changes will be implemented and particularly about how a National Landscape Service will function and whether it will be sufficiently resourced. Following the Glover review, the team at DEFRA have been working to implement the recommendations with ongoing engagement of stakeholders. Of particular interest to the government is the idea of a National Landscape Service. Despite all the other workstreams ongoing at DEFRA, progress is being made and many changes will come in the near future. Exploring how this might impact designated landscapes is vital to enable robust forward-planning and delivery.
1. Anstey’s Combe Molland Moor © N Stone
