National Parks are important to us for a number of reasons - The Yorkshire Post says

Yorkshire has three national parks on its doorstep including North York Moors National Park.

These aren’t just important for the environment but also provide much needed health and wellbeing benefits.

They are also home to communities that have lived there for generations and tourism provides a vital economic lifeline to many small businesses there. Park authorities underpin these majestic areas, ensuring accessibility as well as helping maintain the beauty of National Parks.

It is reassuring to see that the body responsible for conserving and promoting the use of the North York Moors National Park intends to generate more income to ensure it has sufficient funding for key tasks such as path maintenance.

Despite dwindling government grants, the North York Moors National Park authority is considering a record programme of works costing £12.8m for the coming year. Just 34 per cent of the actions will be covered by its core government grant, in the fifth year of flat cash settlements.

While it’s commendable that the National Park is looking to deliver a record programme of work by generating more income, the government must remember the importance of our National Parks and the need to properly fund them.

National Parks are more than just places of outstanding natural beauty. They can also play an educational role helping young people connect with nature. This is particularly important given the climate crisis the planet faces.