National Park Impacts Report June 2006

P O T E N TI A L I MP AC T S OF N ATI O N AL P AR KS IN N OR T H ER N I R E L AN D
N ATIONAL PARKS
P O T E N T I A L I M PA C T S O F N AT I O N A L PA R K
D E S I G N AT I O N I N N O RT H E R N I R E L A N D
J UDITH A A NNETT
C OUNTRYSIDE C ONSULTANCY
with
John Joyce
and
Peter Scott Planning Services Ltd
June 2006
JUDITH A ANNETT COUNTRYSIDE CONSULTANCY, JOHN JOYCE AND PETER SCOTT PLANNING SERVICES LTD. 1
N ATIONAL PARKS
P O T E N T I A L I M PA C T S O F N AT I O N A L PA R K D E S I G N AT I O N I N
N O RT H E R N I R E L A N D
P REPARED BY J UDITH A A NNETT C OUNTRYSIDE C ONSULTANCY
J OHN J OYCE
P ETER S COTT – P ETER S COTT P LANNING S ERVICES LTD .
JUDITH A ANNETT
COUNTRYSIDE CONSULTANCY
OLD FORGE-BALLYARDLE
KILKEEL COUNTY DOWN
NORTHERN IRELAND
BT 34 4JX
028 4176 3262
countryside.consultancy@btinternet.com
GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ANPA Association for National Park Authorities – Government supported

network and representative body for national park authorities in England,
Wales and Scotland
AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – a protected landscape designation
used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
ASSI Area of Special Scientific Interest – a Northern Ireland level nature
conservation designation
CNP Council for National Parks – charity promoting the protection and
enhancement of national parks and equivalent areas in England and Wales
and promoting understanding and quiet enjoyment of such areas.
Defra Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Europarc European networking body for protected areas
LFA Less Favoured Area – an EU agricultural designation
NPA National park authority
PAN WWF sponsored network body for national parks on the continent of
Parks Europe. Mainly national parks based on sizable wilderness and nature
conservation areas.
Ramsar The town in Iran where an international convention on the conservation of
important wetlands was signed in 1971. The town gave its name to the
convention, and designated wetlands of international importance
especially for wildfowl habitats are referred to as Ramsar sites.
SAC Special Area of Conservation – designated under the terms of the EC
Habitats Directive
SPA Special Protection Area for Birds - designated under the terms of the EC
Bird Directive
WANPA Welsh Association of National Park Authorities – a formal part of the
ANPA listed above – comprising a separate committee for Wales.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................. 5

CHAPTER 1 -INTRODUCTION- THE PROPOSAL TO CREATE NATIONAL PARKS IN NORTHERN IRELAND ............. 9
CHAPTER 2 - PROTECTED LANDSCAPES AND NATIONAL PARK AREAS ............................................................... 12
Protection of landscapes ....................................................................................................................................... 12
National Parks....................................................................................................................................................... 14
National parks in England, Wales and Scotland ................................................................................................... 14
National park governance in England Wales and Scotland .................................................................................. 16
Powers and functions of National Park Authorities in England Wales and Scotland ........................................... 17
National and Regional Parks In Europe – examples from France, Italy, Austria and Germany ......................... 21
Protected Areas in France..................................................................................................................................... 22
Protected areas in Italy ......................................................................................................................................... 24
Protected areas in Austria..................................................................................................................................... 25
National parks in Germany ................................................................................................................................... 27
CHAPTER 3 - IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARKS DESIGNATION AND MANAGEMENT IN OTHER COUNTRIES........... 29
The Europarc report on Designations in Northern ireland 2002.......................................................................... 29
Government and local authority Investment in national Parks ............................................................................. 31
Economic impacts of national parks ..................................................................................................................... 34
impacts on property prices .................................................................................................................................... 41
Impacts on housing stock and house prices........................................................................................................... 41
Impacts on built heritage....................................................................................................................................... 46
Impacts on tourism ................................................................................................................................................ 47
Impacts on access and recreation ......................................................................................................................... 50
Impacts on nature conservation interest ............................................................................................................... 53
Impacts on agriculture .......................................................................................................................................... 54
Impacts on traffic................................................................................................................................................... 58
Influence on sustainable development................................................................................................................... 61
Impacts on Planning.............................................................................................................................................. 64
The value of national parks ................................................................................................................................... 66
CHAPTER 4 POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARK DESIGNATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND ....................... 70
The additionality of National Park designation .................................................................................................... 73
Administration. ...................................................................................................................................................... 77
Agriculture ............................................................................................................................................................ 77
Overseas tourism and visitor expenditure ............................................................................................................. 79
Impacts on natural heritage .................................................................................................................................. 82
The local economy................................................................................................................................................. 84
Accountability........................................................................................................................................................ 85
Property prices and social housing ....................................................................................................................... 86
Access and recreation ........................................................................................................................................... 87
Awareness and understanding............................................................................................................................... 88
Impacts on traffic and roads.................................................................................................................................. 89
Sustainable development ....................................................................................................................................... 90
Planning ................................................................................................................................................................ 91
CHAPTER 5 MITIGATING AND MONITORING THE IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARK DESIGNATIONS IN NORTHERN
IRELAND ................................................................................................................................................................ 93
Mitigating the impacts........................................................................................................................................... 94
Monitoring and review .......................................................................................................................................... 95
Relationship of monitoring activity to potential national park impacts. ............................................................... 97
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (the Department)
intends to introduce new national park legislation in Northern Ireland and to
process proposals for a national park in the Mourne area of County Down
subject to local agreement and the necessary funding being made available.
Public consultation has already taken place on the aims of national parks and
on criteria for their designation.
2. A Mourne National Park Working Party has been established by the Department
to formulate detailed proposals on the proposed national park in the Mournes.
The Working Party plans to consult on a proposed boundary later this year.
3. This document is intended to provide an independent assessment of what the

impacts of national park legislation and designation might be on Northern
Ireland as a region and on the Mournes and other areas that might
subsequently be considered for national park status. It is designed to assist
consultation on the content of the primary legislation to be brought forward and
the process of considering the detail of the proposed national park in the
Mournes.
4. The report details the recorded impacts of national parks elsewhere in Great
Britain, Europe and further afield and examines what changes could come
about as a result of national park designation in Northern Ireland. The
assessment of the potential impacts is based on the national park aims and
criteria that Government intends to apply and which will be subject to
consultation towards the end of 2007 at the earliest. The proposed aims for
national parks are:
1. To conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area;1
2. To promote sustainable use of the natural resources of the area;
3. To promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form
of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public, and
4. To promote sustainable economic and social development of the area’s
communities.
Proposed criteria for selecting national parks in Northern Ireland are:
1. That the area is extensive and is of outstanding national importance

because of its natural heritage, or the combination of natural and cultural
heritage;
2. That the area has a distinctive character and a coherent identity;
1 Where the aims come into conflict, e.g. where there is a conflict between the first aim and any of the other three; the first aim will be given greater weight
3. That designating the area as a national park would meet the special needs
of the area and would be the best means of ensuring that the national park
aims are collectively achieved in relation to the area in a coordinated way,
and
4. That the area offers opportunities for understanding, appreciation and
enjoyment of the countryside by the public.
5. The major changes that would come about directly as a result of new legislation
and at least one national park designation (Mournes) would be:
• The appointment of a statutory national park authority (for each

designated area) to further the national park aims. Authorities would
have a range of statutory powers across the national park area;
• Government funding would be awarded to the national park authority
to promote the aims, take forward a national park plan and run
programmes. Work is in hand to establish the likely level of this
funding. At this stage it is not possible to predict the outcome of that
work; however, on the basis of earlier research and the GB
experience, it seems reasonable to expect that funding for an
established national park in the Mournes may be in the range of £2m
- £4m per annum;
• The employment of staff in each national park area to carry the work
of the national park authority (estimated 25-30 staff);
• The development of a national park plan to set strategic objectives for
each area and to identify the roles of all public bodies in achieving
them;
• The removal of the development planning role of the designated area
from the Planning Service or local authorities (post 2009) and the
development of a new area plan for each national park area. Existing
development plans would continue to operate until such time as each
new authority produces a national park plan and an area plan to
cover its designated area, and
• The introduction of a series of programmes and action plans to
achieve national park aims. A typical set of national park programmes
would be likely to include:
• Landscape and nature conservation enhancement;
• Cultural and built heritage conservation and enhancement;
• Developing further opportunities for countryside enjoyment;
including access and recreation;
• Traffic management and sustainable transport;
• Sustainable tourism and visitor management, and
• Sustainable community and economic development including
addressing issues such as affordable housing.
6. Based on an assessment of the impacts of national parks elsewhere and on the

likely activities of national park authorities in Northern Ireland, the benefits that
might accrue from national park designation are:
• £2 - £4 million additional funding to the national park area, including

additional funding for a range of nature conservation recreation, built
heritage, community and economic programmes;
• 25-30 jobs in the national park authority;
• Protection of the landscape;
• Slowing or stemming loss in biodiversity ;
• Protection of built heritage in the landscape;
• Increased opportunities for recreation;
• Increased numbers of visitors ;
• Higher visitor expenditure;
• More jobs in tourism;
• More jobs in countryside management;
• Possible enhanced or top up funding for agri -environment schemes;
• Increased visitor management and landowner support;
• Higher property values;
• Higher value of some land zoned for housing;
• More support for local services, and
• Possible use of the international brand ‘national park’ for local
produce schemes.
7. In terms of disadvantages of national park designation to an area the report also

examines the situation elsewhere and relates this to Northern Ireland. It
concludes that national park designation may lead to:
• An increase in house prices, with a medium and long term effect that
local people may not be able to afford housing in their own area. This
may cause significant out migration, particularly of young people;
• An associated rise in rateable value of houses and property;
• A related change in the social mix towards the higher socio-economic
groups, and retirees;
• A change in land values with development land increasing in cost,
and land not zoned for development reverting to agriculturally
influenced prices;
• An increase in the number of second homes ;
• More pressure for development of the undeveloped countryside;
• Increased wear and tear on sensitive recreation sites and particularly
the uplands;
• Possible negative effects on designated nature conservation sites
without careful management
• Potential conflicts between landowners and recreational users,

particularly because of the scarcity of official access to the
countryside compared to national park areas elsewhere;
• Increases in tourist related traffic, possibly leading to more
congestion;
• Change in the balance of employment towards low paid seasonal
jobs in tourism – potential in migration of workers to tourism jobs;
• Reduction in mineral extraction over time, and
• A possible cost to other policies and programmes elsewhere,
following the allocation of £2- £4 million to a national park.
8. Apart from the benefits of increased funding and direct jobs within the national
park authority, none of the benefits and disadvantages is inevitable. The impact
of national park designation largely depends on the nature of both primary
legislation to enable the designation of national parks and to set up their
purpose, and on subordinate legislation to establish each national park. A
further key determining factor is the type of policies that national park authority
members choose to pursue, and the content of the national park plan. All of
these elements will be subject to public consultation.
CHAPTER 1.
INTRODUCTION- THE PROPOSAL TO CREATE NATIONAL PARKS IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE
PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT.
1.1 In 2002, The Department of the Environment Northern Ireland (the Department)
announced its intention to process proposals for a national park in the Mourne area, and
began to consult the public on the nature of national parks in Northern Ireland.
1.2 This report has been commissioned by the Department to provide an independent view
of the possible impacts of national park designation in Northern Ireland. It is intended to
inform Government, the Mourne National Park Working Party and the public and to
assist the process of consultation on the characteristics of the parks to be designated. It
is based on assessments of what aspects are likely to change as a result of designation,
and what the potential benefits and costs disadvantages of these changes may be. The
assessment is based on research into the impacts of national park designation elsewhere
and on close study of the situation in Northern Ireland in relation to potential impacts.
1.3 The report follows on from the Department’s consultation paper on national parks in
Northern Ireland in 2004, and draws from a number of sources including the responses
to the consultation; published and unpublished literature on national parks in Britain and
across the world; and the output of two sister studies commissioned to accompany and
inform this report. These companion reports (both in draft at the time of preparing this
report) are:
• A study on the changes to tourism numbers, patterns and income in Mourne

as a result of national park designation - by Colin Buchanan; and
• A study of socio-economic indicators for the proposed Mourne National
Park - by the Rural Development Council.
1.4 The report also draws on the experiences of a group of Mourne farmers, who visited
national parks in Scotland and Wales in 20042.
1.5 National parks in Northern Ireland have been proposed for many years and could have
been designated under the Amenity Lands Act (NI) 1965 which has been repealed.
National Park designation is possible under current legislation (The Nature
Conservation and Amenity Lands (NI) Order 1985 (the 1985 Order) as amended by The
Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Amendment) (NI) Order 1989 (the 1989
Order))3 but this provides only for designation, with no accompanying statutory powers
to establish a management mechanism for national parks, such as adopted in Great
Britain or elsewhere in Europe.
2 Report available to download at http://www.mournelive.com/aboutaonb/topics/viewdetails.asp?topicID=14

3 Full text available on http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/northernireland/nisr/yeargroups/1980-1989/1985/1985oic/no170_000.htm#H16 or from The Stationery Office
1.6 During 2004/05 consultation took place on the need for new primary legislation that
would provide a framework for the designation of national parks generally in Northern
Ireland. Policy issues are currently being progressed and the Department is committed
to introducing the necessary enabling legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
In parallel with this work a Mourne National Park Working Party has been established
by the Department to formulate detailed proposals on the proposed national park in the
Mournes. The Working Party plans to consult on a proposed boundary later this year.
It is envisaged that the new primary legislation will provide for national parks to be
designated by means of separate pieces of subordinate legislation each of which would
involve full public consultation. At the time of writing this report some detail of draft
content of the primary legislation was emerging,4 with information for example on the
draft aims and the selection criteria. It is proposed that the aims of national parks in
Northern Ireland will replicate those contained in the Scottish legislation, including the
socio-economic aim. Aims have been proposed as follows:
1. To conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area;
2. To promote sustainable use of the natural resources of the area;
3. To promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form of
recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public; and
4. To promote sustainable economic and social development of the area’s
communities.
1.7 Some definitions of these terms were available including the intention that ‘natural
heritage’ will include flora, fauna, geological and physiographical features, natural
beauty and amenity; and that ‘cultural heritage’ will include structures and other
remains resulting from human activity of all periods, language, traditions, ways of life,
and the historic, literary and artistic associations of people, places and landscapes.
1.8 In the Scottish legislation, and in the proposed Northern Ireland legislation, each aim
has equal status. However, the legislation also provides that where the aims come into
conflict, e.g. where there is a conflict between the first aim and any of the other three;
the first aim will be given greater weight. This principle is referred to as the Sandford5
principle. The original use of this principle placed nature conservation aims above those
of recreational enjoyment when the twin aims of national parks in England and Wales
came into conflict.
4 DoE Environmental Policy Group Dec 2005 Paper to the Mourne Working Group
5 after Lord Sandford who chaired the National Parks Policy Review Committee which reviewed national parks of England and Wales between 1971 and
1974. The relevant passage in the report states "National Park Authorities can do much to reconcile public enjoyment with the preservation of natural
beauty by good planning and management and the main emphasis must continue to be on this approach wherever possible. But even so, there will be
situations where the two purposes are irreconcilable... Where this happens, priority must be given to the conservation of natural beauty." (Lord Sandford,
1974)
1.9 Detailed criteria for the selection of national park areas in Northern Ireland have also
been proposed as follows:
1. That the area is extensive and is of outstanding national importance because of its
natural heritage, or the combination of natural and cultural heritage
2. That the area has a distinctive character and a coherent identity
3. That designating the area as a national park would meet the special needs of the area
and would be the best means of ensuring that the national park aims are collectively
achieved in relation to the area in a coordinated way
4. That the area offers opportunities for understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of
the countryside by the public.
1.10 Other detail will be available as part of the Department’s consultation on draft
legislation, but was not available at the time of this report.
CHAPTER 2 - CONTEXT - PROTECTED LANDSCAPES AND NATIONAL PARK AREAS
2.1 Northern Ireland is fortunate to have an exceptional variety and quality of rural
landscapes. These are the result of the underlying geology, soils, and climatic influences
and of the way that people have settled and worked the land. The character of a
particular landscape is made up of its many features including wildlife habitats,
archaeological sites, settlements, field patterns, watercourses and buildings.
2.2 Landscapes are an important social and economic resource - supporting people,
farming, forestry and other land-based industries, and contributing to the tourism
economy. Communities normally enjoy a sense of pride and belonging to their local
landscapes, and welcome visitors to them from throughout the island and from overseas.
Landscapes can be enjoyed aesthetically for their views and atmosphere, or can be
explored actively.
2.3 Landscapes are ever changing and reflect the prosperity and priorities of the people who
live and work in them. Changes in needs and fashions for housing styles and
requirements, changes in leisure patterns, the development of new industries and the
factors that drive farming activity all have their impacts on the countryside, its
appearance and its function.
PROTECTION OF LANDSCAPES
2.4 Landscapes can be protected through various special policies, initiatives and
designations. The most widespread of these is through the planning system where there
are regional planning policies aimed at protecting landscapes and recreation; and a
series of area development plans that identify specific areas where development will
either be restricted or be subject to particular scrutiny. The choice of these areas in
Northern Ireland has most recently been based on a comprehensive series of local
landscape character assessments6, which have identified 130 different and distinct
Landscape Character Areas (LCA), along with their special characteristics and
sensitivities. Depending on the nature of a landscape and the pressures on it, a
Countryside Policy Area (CPA) may be designated within an area plan to restrict the
types of development that can take place and to seek to protect its character.
2.5 In 1985, legislation7 was brought in to allow for the designation of Areas of Outstanding
Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks in Northern Ireland. In 2006, at the time
of preparing this report, Northern Ireland has 9 AONBs. Although national parks can be
established under the existing legislation, new or amended legislation will be required to
provide adequate protection and powers to achieve the proposed national park aims,
which are generally similar to those adopted for national parks through the world.
6 Environment and Heritage Service 2000 ‘Northern Ireland Landscape Character Assessment".
7 Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (NI) Order 1985 Amended 1989
2.6 Northern Ireland also has one international landscape designation: World Heritage Site
(WHS) status for the Giant’s Causeway. This designation is by inscription on an
UNESCO8 list and is afforded only to sites and landscapes of international interest that
exhibit outstanding or unique characteristics of landform, geology, or culture.
2.7 Most countries throughout the world identify and aim to protect the best areas of special
landscape, wildlife and/or cultural heritage significance by some form of designation.
Such designations are usually underpinned by legislation and supported by policies and
practical measures intended to protect, maintain and enhance the area’s special qualities.
Areas designated to protect their special landscape values are broadly termed protected
landscapes or protected areas. The Department’s Environment and Heritage Service
set out its policies for such landscapes in 20039 including the intention to take forward a
national park designation in the Mournes.
2.8 The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has developed a definition of a protected area10
and provided a set of protected area management categories to clarify the objectives and
to achieve an element of standardisation from country to country11. Categories range
from protection primarily for wilderness, nature conservation, and research, through to
protection that includes cultural and social systems, industry, and heritage within a
working landscape.
2.9 The Council of Europe has expressed an interest in landscape protection and it
published the European Landscape Convention in 2000. The Convention defines
landscape as a zone or area [as perceived by local people or visitors], whose visual
features and character are the result of the action of natural or cultural (that is, human)
factors.12 The Convention reflects two key characteristics of landscape:
• That landscapes evolve through time, through natural and human actions;
and
• That a landscape is an holistic entity, the natural and cultural components of
which are integral components.
The aim of the Landscape Convention is the protection, management and planning of
European landscapes by means of national measures and European cooperation. The
Convention applies to all landscapes, rather than to the special protected areas addressed
in the IUCN categories. The UK is a signatory to the Convention. The implication of the
8 United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

9 Shared Horizons - Statement of Policy on Protected Landscapes in Northern Ireland (EHS, 2003)
10 An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and
managed through legal or other effective means.
11 Guidelines for Protected Areas Management Categories, IUCN, 1994 ( see Appendix I)
12 European Landscape Convention: Florence 20.X.2000, European Treaty Series No. 176, Council for Europe, 2000
Convention is that all landscapes are important and their special qualities should be
retained.
NATIONAL PARKS
2.10 The term ‘national park’ is a widely recognised and unambiguous label for landscape
protection which has been adopted in most countries in the world. North American and
most, but not all, European national parks have core natural or wilderness areas, where
management seeks to protect the nature conservation, biodiversity and landscape values
of the area, whilst also allowing for tourism, recreation and study in a sustainable way.
There are now some 2,000 national parks across the world in more than 120 countries.
Most European countries have national parks, with the exception of Denmark, which is
considering their introduction and is conducting a national park pilot scheme.
2.11 In general, national park management in these areas seeks to minimise human impacts.
Exceptions include De Biesbosch and De Groote Peel National Parks in the
Netherlands, and the Cévennes National Park in France, where the human interaction
with landscape is accepted as an integral part of maintaining the features of interest in
the area. In general the more populated the landscape, the less it is possible to manage
primarily for nature conservation and wilderness objectives, and the more likely it is
that national park management will need to involve social and economic objectives
alongside protection. Within cultural landscapes it is increasingly recognised that the
traditional economic activities of the population play a major role in maintaining the
fabric of the landscape.
2.12 Most land in North American national parks is in public ownership, but land ownership
patterns in Europe’s national parks vary. For example, most land in France’s national
parks is privately owned or belongs to local communes, while the Netherlands’ national
parks are either totally State-owned, or are predominantly owned by provinces,
municipalities, or private conservation organisations. In the Republic of Ireland, which
has 6 national parks, management is primarily for nature conservation, with managed
recreational and study visits permitted. These national parks are relatively small,
(totalling just under 600 km2) have few or no inhabitants, and are in state ownership.
NATIONAL PARKS IN ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND
2.13 In England and Wales, the term national park was introduced by the National Parks and
Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (the 1949 Act). National parks were introduced
only recently in Scotland by the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000. Great Britain’s
national parks have similarities to Northern Ireland’s AONBs and the proposed Mourne
National Park, in that they are populated and have many different landowners. They are
cultural landscapes whose characteristics have been significantly influenced by man.
Significantly, the livelihoods of many of the inhabitants are dependent on the landscape
and natural resources of the area. National parks in Great Britain have been recognised
as category V landscapes by the IUCN13.
2.14 There are 12 national parks in England and Wales, mainly designated in the 1950s
following the 1949 Act. These are: Peak District, Lake District, Snowdonia, Dartmoor,
Pembrokeshire Coast, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor, Northumberland,
and the Brecon Beacons. The Norfolk Broads has an equivalent status to a national
park. The New Forest National Park, England’s most recent and smallest national park
was designated in March 2005. The South Downs area is being considered for National
Park status with some remaining consultation on boundaries and on the legal feasibility
of including a marine area.
2.15 National parks in England and Wales have a two-fold purpose:
• conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage;
and
• promoting opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special
qualities of those areas by the public.
Since the Environment Act 1995, the national park authorities must also…
• seek to foster the economic and social well being of local communities
within the National Park, in their pursuit of national park purposes.
Initially this activity was to be carried out without incurring significant expenditure, but
in recent times more expenditure has been allowed to this end, following the Natural
Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (the NERC Bill).
2.16 In cases of conflict between the aims, the legislation requires that the national park
authority should attach greater weight to the purpose of conserving and enhancing the
natural beauty, wildlife, and cultural heritage. This is referred to as the ‘Sandford
principle’, following the Sandford Committee’s recommendation in 1974 that
enjoyment of national parks ‘shall be in a manner and by such means as to leave their
natural beauty unimpaired for the enjoyment of this and future generations’.
2.17 In Scotland, the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 provided for the first time for the
establishment of national parks in Scotland. Scotland's two national parks are Loch
Lomond and the Trossachs (1,865 km2), established in July 2002, and Cairngorms
(3,800 km2), established in March 2003. The Cairngorms National Park is the largest
13 More can be read about the 6IUCN protected landscape categories on the world wide web at http://www.unep-wcmc.org/index.html?http://www.unep-
wcmc.org/protected_areas/categories/index.html~main
national park in the UK and one of the biggest in Western Europe. The aims of
Scotland’s national parks are:
• to conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area;
• to promote sustainable use of the natural resources of the area;
• to promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form
of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public; and
• to promote sustainable economic and social development of the area’s
communities.
NATIONAL PARK GOVERNANCE IN ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND
2.18 Designation of a national park in England, Scotland and Wales is accompanied by the
establishment of a statutory national park authority. National park authorities consist of
a board of appointed members, who appoint a staff team to carry out the work of the
authority. There are differences between one national park and another in the nature and
number of appointments. In general terms an authority normally consists of members
who represent the local interests of the national park area, and members appointed by
the relevant Government minister to represent the national interest.
2.19 The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 requires that, in England,
the local authority and parish members – representing local interests - must comprise a
majority of the membership of each park authority.
2.20 The current range of systems can be summarised as follows:
• Welsh National Park Authorities have two-thirds local authority members

(i.e. county council, county borough council and/or parish council members),
and one-third members appointed by the National Assembly for Wales. In
line with this14, the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority has 16 local
authority members and 8 members appointed by the National Assembly for
Wales; the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority has 10 local
authority members and 5 appointed by the National Assembly; and the
Snowdonia National Park Authority has 12 local authority members and 6
appointed by the National Assembly. Local authorities are encouraged to
appoint representatives of wards within the national park area to the park
authority. The National Assembly for Wales is currently consulting on
arrangements for appointments to national park authorities in Wales15.
14 under Schedule 2 to the National Park Authorities (Wales) Order 1995 – no. 2803
15 Welsh Assembly Government 2006 Consultation on the process for appointing Members to the Welsh National Park Authorities - Consultation ends in May 2006
• In Scotland the two national park authorities each have 25 members: 10

appointed by Scottish Ministers from nominees from local authorities in the
areas, 10 appointed by Ministers through the public appointments procedures
to represent the national interest; and five elected by a postal ballot of the
local electorate. 58% of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs electorate voted
in the elections which were held by the lead council in each area of the
national park.
• In England’s eight national parks membership numbers varies. There are
three different types of member. These are: local authority appointees; those
appointed by the Secretary of State to represent the national interest; and
those nominated by parish councils within the park and appointed by the
Secretary of State to represent the local interest. Every local authority with
land in a park at county and district level is entitled to appoint at least one
member to the respective park authority unless it chooses to opt out. The
number of local authority members is one half plus one of the total
memberships of an Authority and the number of Secretary of State members
is two fewer than the number of local authority members. Of the Secretary of
State appointed members, one half minus one are parish members and the
remainder are national members.
• Following a review of national park authorities, from 1 April 2007, all the
English national park authorities will have 22 members, except for the Peak
District, which will have 30. The reduction, which has been endorsed
through public consultation, is subject to Parliamentary approval. Changes
are also expected to include the introduction of measures to ensure effective
consultation with local and regional stakeholders.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND, WALES AND

SCOTLAND
2.21 The main purpose of a national park authority is to provide for the integrated
management for the designated area. The primary tool to achieve this is the preparation
and implementation of a National Park Plan working in close partnership with the many
stakeholders in achieving designation objectives. The plan is a statutory document.
Other statutory bodies must have due regard to national park plans in their work, and in
most cases, work in close partnership with the national park authority. The topic
coverage within national park plans is broad and can range across mineral extraction,
housing, and access to services, tourism, water quality, recreation and nature
conservation.
Case study 1 – The scope of national park plans

LOCH LOMOND AND THE TROSSACHS NATIONAL PARK
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Plan (draft) and State of the Park
report took three years to prepare but provide both a comprehensive and detailed
look at the situation in the park and a detailed set of objectives and actions to achieve
the designation objectives. The main topics covered in the plan are:
- Perspectives and guiding principles
- The special qualities of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

- Managing natural and cultural resources
- The national park experience
- Communities and livelihoods
- Working together to deliver the plan
The natural and cultural resources section of the plan takes in landscape, cultural
heritage, biodiversity and geology, integrated land management, water and fisheries
management and using resources wisely.
The community and livelihoods theme covers strengthening the park’s economy,
promoting balanced communities, developing quality and local character and
delivering the social and economic benefits of the park.
The national park plan is a statutory document which all statutory bodies working in
the area must take account of. The plan is a means of setting a vision, objectives, and
for the national park area; of securing integrated management; and of providing the
focus of partnership actions.
The spatial implementation of national park plans is achieved through separate area,
subject or structure plans; and through development control measures. In the case of
the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs area the National Park Authority is also the
planning authority.
2.22 Ways whereby the national park authorities protect, manage and enhance national park
areas include using their range of functions and powers to, for example:
• Employ staff to take forward national park programmes;

• Enter into management agreements with landowners and others, make
bylaws and establish management rules;
• Provide advice and assistance and undertake or fund research;
• Provide grant aid for activities that promote the objectives of the park;
• Purchase land;
• Create nature reserves;
• Provide information and education, visitor centres etc.
• Provide countryside facilities such as toilets, car parks, campsites and picnic
areas;
• Provide sport, recreation and leisure facilities and services;
• Make improvements to inland waterways and manage recreational and other
uses of waterways;
• Protect and maintain rights of way; develop new public paths and access
agreements; and provide access infrastructure, and
• Request traffic management schemes
2.23 Since the Foot and Mouth crisis, Government agencies and park authorities have
increasingly recognised a need to address rural development and socio-economic issues
as a part of national park management. Park authorities in England and Wales in
particular have been enabled to allocate more of their resources than previously to this
type of activity. As part of their countryside enjoyment and recreation functions, park
authorities have taken an increased interest in rural tourism with the following types of
intervention and programmes being typical:
• Arrangements for countryside interpretation for visitors;

• Provision of walks, talks and information;
• Development and management of access to the countryside;
• Visitor management interventions;
• Monitoring of visitor impacts;
• Grant aid for sustainable tourism projects;
• Influencing tourism activity where it is deemed to be affecting the special
qualities of the area e.g. erosion of paths, congestion of traffic, over use of
special sites, disturbance of wildlife;
• Arrangements for sustainable transport for residents and visitors within an
area;
• Provision of visitor centres, gateway centres and national park centres, and
• Development of job and farm diversification programmes to promote
industries that are in keeping with the objectives of the park.
2.24 The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority’s consultation draft of its
first national park plan, covers the following topics with relevance to tourism:
• Balancing recreation opportunity with sustainability;

• Providing a valued, quality experience;
• Raising awareness and understanding of the Park;
• Participating in the park;
• Strengthening the Park’s economy ;
• Sustainable tourism;
• Increasing the benefits of tourism;
• Developing quality visitor destinations;
• Water quality and recreation, and
• Opportunities for active involvement
Case study 2 - National Park influence on the planning policies of other bodies
SCOTLANDS NEW NATIONAL PARKS
In Scotland, where national parks were first designated in 2002 and 2003, the various
local plans already in place continue to drive planning policy until such times as the
national park plans and new local plans can be prepared. Loch Lomond and the
Trossachs National Park Authority and The Cairngorms National Park Authority have
both brought forward state of the park reports and draft national park plans16with Loch
Lomond having completed its consultation phase on a published draft and the
Cairngorms having embarked on public consultation in April 2006.
After assuming its powers in 2003 the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA)
prepared several interim policy papers where it considered that there were either
inconsistencies between the treatment of specific issues and topics between local
plans or that there were gaps in policy. Interim policy papers were prepared on
- Renewable energy
- Telecoms structures
- Hill tracks
- Mineral extraction.
These were published as draft policies for consultation with a wide range of interests
in the area, and provide a basis for the park authority’s responses to planning
applications and decisions on whether or not to call in planning applications.
Other policies that CNPA consider needed urgent or medium term review included
- Housing in the countryside
- Development affecting local national and international conservation sites, and
local biodiversity action plans
- Development affecting scenic areas
- Industrial development including mineral extraction and forestry
- Residential caravans and sites
- Waste management policies
- Electricity lines
- Rural shops
- Advertisements
- Control of road access.
2.25 National park authorities in England, Wales and Scotland are normally the planning
authority for an area. Planning roles include preparing area development plans (setting
out spatial strategies and planning policies for the area) and undertaking development
control functions (receiving and making decisions on planning applications). The
Cairngorms National Park Authority differs from this in that it has the development
planning (area planning) role, but instead the development control responsibilities have
been retained by the respective local authorities. The Cairngorms National Park
Authority has the power, however, to call in planning applications where it considers
that there may be an impact (positive or negative) on the objectives of the park. The
park authority has 21 days following the submission of a planning application to decide
16 http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/park/default.asp?p=110 and http://www.cairngorms.co.uk/parkauthority/papers/board/
if it wishes to call in that application. On calling in an application it assumes the full

role as the planning authority, making the decision on whether or not the applicant may
go ahead with the development. In the first year of operation the park authority called in
some 12.5% of planning applications.
2.26 National Park Authorities may also comment on planning issues outside their
designated boundaries, where the authority feels that the interests of the national park
may be affected. For example the Cairngorms National Park Authority has objected to 3
wind farm developments outside the park boundary on the grounds of visual impact and
in the interest of protecting nature conservation interests. The CNPA considers that the
four aims of the park should not be considered as stopping at the boundary but should
extend beyond the invisible line17. Examples include the visual and cumulative impacts
of windfarm developments, impacts on bird foraging areas and river catchment and
hydrology issues.
2.27 National park authorities and the local development plans they produce, all operate
within, and are guided by, a wider planning framework which includes national
planning policies, regional planning policies and frameworks, strategic development
plans, and structure plans; some of which may themselves make specific reference to
national parks.
NATIONAL AND REGIONAL PARKS IN EUROPE – EXAMPLES FROM FRANCE, ITALY ,

AUSTRIA AND GERMANY
2.28 Northern Ireland no longer has areas that could be classed as wilderness, and has few
areas that could be considered as uninhabited or unaffected by the actions of humans.
For this reason national park designations primarily based on conserving wilderness
areas are not considered relevant to this study and therefore designations, objectives and
actions of countries such as the USA, Canada, and New Zealand for example, have not
been presented.
2.29 All areas of Northern Ireland that have been identified as special landscapes, have
indigenous communities whose livelihoods rely at least in part on the natural resources
of the area. There are, however, widespread areas, particularly but not exclusively
uplands, that are sparsely populated and have a ‘wildness’18 which appeals to visitors
and local people19.
17 CNPA Planning Paper 3 Meeting 16th Dec 2005

18 Scotland’s planning policy guidance NPPG 14 defines wildness as 'uninhabited and often relatively inaccessible countryside where the influence of human activity
‘ ’
on the character and quality of the environment has been minimal'.
19 Scottish Natural Heritage policy statement 02/03 identifies the ways in which people value wildness
‘ ’, including solitude and sanctuary, closeness to nature,
wildness as a quality in its own right, and engagement with the environment in a physical way through activities, work or special interests
2.30 A number of countries in Europe have designated populated landscapes like those in
Northern Ireland. Three are presented below to illustrate the type of impacts protected
area management can have. Both national parks and regional parks are included for the
reason that regional parks in Europe, share many characteristics with landscape areas in
the UK, indeed often more so than their national park counterparts.
PROTECTED AREAS IN FRANCE
2.31 France has 7 national parks. The law establishing national parks in 1960 stated that
national park can be designated "when there is a special interest in the preservation of
its fauna, flora, waters and - more generally - of some natural environment, and it is
therefore important to protect such an environment against natural deterioration as well
as against any artificial action which may alter its aspect, composition and evolution".
National Parks in France have a central zone and a peripheral or buffer zone. In the
central zone, some human activities are regulated to prevent change in fauna, flora,
natural environment and landscape. Some parts of the central zones may be subject to
further restrictions (reserves intégrales), with entrance allowed for scientific purposes
only. The buffer areas are not subject to any specific regulations and carry the tourism
facilities, visitor exhibitions and information centres for the parks and the visitor
accommodation.
2.32 The aim of France’s 42 Regional Nature Parks, known as Parc Naturels Regionaux
(PNR) is the protection, management and development of smaller areas, which have a
rich natural and cultural heritage considered to be threatened. All of the municipalities
concerned in the administration of such parks adhere to a charter for their management
and develop a set of agreed management actions. The main objective of the French
regional parks is to protect the area’s heritage through mechanisms which include:
• Contributing to planning;
• Enhancing social, economic and cultural development and quality of life;
• Welcoming visitors and providing information and education, and
• Undertaking research and studies.
2.33 French regional parks are similar to the national park models in England, Wales and
Scotland, due to their populated nature, the importance of the socio-economic
dimension, and the influence of humans on the landscape. Whilst only around 1,000
people live permanently within the French national parks some 2.4 million people live
within the 34 PNR.20
20 Buller, H. 2000 The French Parcs Naturels Regionaux – Socio-economic impact and rural development actions. Working Paper no 52 Centre for Rural Economy
Working Paper Series University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
2.34 Whilst PNRs in France now have balanced objectives that include a social, cultural and
economic theme, designations have not always been popular, and in many cases have
been delayed through local opposition. This has been for two main reasons - resistance
to a mainly conservation focused, preservationist, agenda with the pressure for
designation coming from interests from outside the area; and the perceived restrictions
that would come about as a result of designation, particularly on small towns and
settlements. PNR designation is now more welcome for the proven benefits to marginal
rural economies.
Case study 3 – French Regional Parks

ISSUES AND INTERVENTIONS IN FRANCE’S PARCS NATURELS REGIONAUX
(REGIONAL PARKS)
Parc Naturels Regionaux in France face a number of pressures, some which have
parallels within UK national parks, and some of which are shared with other
peripheral areas in France without designations.. Chief amongst these are:
-Rural depopulation and the linked issues of socio-economic decline and a reduction
in local services
-Loss of local traditions, heritage and traditional expertise – which leads in part to a
loss of identity for some communities based on traditional artisan skills and food
specialities.
-Agricultural decline – including the difficulty of competing in agricultural markets from
peripheral areas, with marginal enterprises in difficult farming circumstances created
by altitude or other geographical influence
-Visitor provision and pressures on regional park areas and the issues of access
-The ‘them and us’ situation created by designation which to some local people
seems to place them in an ‘Indian reserve’ being visited predominantly by city people.
Responses to these issues by the regional parks have included
-Actions to sustain support local economic activities – particularly those that give
identity to the region and its people. Such actions have typically included coordination
and marketing, renewal and extension of the economic infrastructure, product
labelling and market development and extension.
-Actions to support agriculture, through agri-environment funding schemes, through
reanimation and organisation of traditional French produce, and through farm tourism
schemes. Maintaining farmers and traditional farm practices is seen as a vital element
in maintaining the nature conservation interest of the parks.
-Actions to support services for local people – focussing on maintaining service levels
in transport, health care, local shops, etc.; on providing local affordable housing to
retain workers within traditional industries and agriculture; and providing affordable
economic units to enable services such as bakeries, etc. to remain in the area
-Actions to create new socio-economic benefits, particularly through the development
of tourism products and services, but also through business diversification and new
enterprise start-ups
Many of the development actions in France’s regional parks are similar to mainstream
rural development initiatives in Northern Ireland, to projects funded via EU LEADER
programmes and to NRRTI21 programmes and the interventions of Councils or AONB
management groups. PNRs appear to be strongest and most effective in the areas of
local produce labelling and marketing; maintaining rural services; and providing local
’first stop shop’ arrangements to assist access by local people to other schemes to
their benefit.
PROTECTED AREAS IN ITALY
2.35 Italy has both national and regional parks with national parks being established and
overseen by the Minister for the Environment and regional parks being managed at
regional administrative levels. Both designations recognise cultural landscapes and the
role and relevance of the communities that live there. There are currently 23 national
parks in Italy with one further park in development. These parks cover around 5% of the
country. There are some 127 regional parks. Like France, the two tiers of designation,
national and regional, reflect the levels of population of the parks and the extent to
which the joint aims of nature and landscape conservation and socio-economic
development are pursued.
2.36 Regional parks in Italy typically protect nature as heritage and as a basis for the future.
They also facilitate sustainable tourism, provide education facilities, maintain traditional
industries, promote local traditional, sustainable produce, and maintain distinctive local
breeds and local cultivars.
Case study 4 – Italy’s Regional Parks

THE PARCO NATURALE CAPPANE DI MARCAROLO – PROMOTING THE
SPECIAL INTEREST OF THE REGIONAL PARK AREA
The Parco Natural Cappane di Marcarolo in Alessandria near Genova provides
resources to assist in understanding, study and enjoyment of the park. Resources
include flora and fauna lists including separate listings of birds and mammals, guided
walks and special booklets detailing the ecosystems of the park. The park also
provides information for visitors such as accommodation, features of interest and
recreational walking, cycling and horse riding routes through the park.
Special local produce is also featured in promotions including the ‘Quarantina’ potato,
‘Gavi’ and ‘Dolcetto di Ovada Doc’ wines, and ‘Amaretti’, ‘canestrelli’, and ‘baci di
dama’ sweets. The park runs a series of events designed to provide visitors with
enjoyable events and experiences of the park and to deepen their knowledge of local
customs such as cattle fairs and husbandry, fungi collection, and traditional produce,
and of the ecology and recreational opportunities to be found there.
21 Natural Resource Rural Tourism Initiative – a special Northern Ireland based programme which operated in Northern Ireland between 2000-2006 as part of the EU
Programme for Peace and Reconciliation. The programme was delivered mainly within AONB areas and in County Fermanagh, prioritised towards areas of high
deprivation which had suffered from suppressed tourism levels as a result of the NI conflict.
Regional park activities include the production of special maps, maintaining a website
within the www.parcs.it family, and a range of environmental and socio-economic
interventions
PROTECTED AREAS IN AUSTRIA
2.37 Around 3% of Austria’s land area or 2,350 km2 is strictly protected within its 6 national
parks and approximately one-quarter of the country is covered by various categories of
protected areas. The development of the national park system in Austria started in 1971
with the establishment of the Hohe Tauern National Park.
2.38 National parks in Austria fall into category II of the IUCN protected area categories,
which means that they are primarily managed for the protection of nature. The IUCN
guidelines mean that at least three-quarters of the park must comprise a strict protection
zone without any economic use or intervention, and that there must be binding
contractual agreements with landowners to ensure that this is the case. Compensation is
paid to landowners for the income foregone from former land uses of the park.
2.39 The national parks welcome and facilitate visitors for active and passive enjoyment on
the basis that what people value they will protect. Significant effort is directed towards
national park visitor and information centres with over 220,000 visiting the
‘nationalparkhauser’ in 2005. The 300+ national park employees lead guided walks,
hold holiday camps and host school and group visits to the parks. There is a well
organised programme of voluntary work projects in the parks.
2.40 An economic study of national parks in Austria in 200522 found that staying tourist
revenue within the six park areas totalled €450 million (£310 million) with one-third of
this revenue arising from visitors who had visited in part or wholly because of the
national park. Day visitors contributed a further €29 million (£20 million). Other
findings were that the length of stay in national parks was on average a day longer than
for other parts of Austria and that the national park areas were more likely to retain their
visitor levels during periods of economic downturn than other tourist areas in Austria.
2.41 National park staff work with local municipalities to coordinate park visits,
accommodation, and events and the parks form part of Austria’s wider rural policy to
reduce the rural exodus and to support the development of disadvantaged regions
(Austria has a rural population of 56% compared to an EU average of 20%). Some of
the parks also play a role in Austria’s water protection programmes to ensure continuity
of water supplies to cities.
22 2005 Institute of Tourist Land Use Planning for the Austrian Ministry for Life.
2.42 In the mountain regions of Austria there are concerns that farmers will cease to maintain
the mountain pastures, and the forest clearings that produce such high biodiversity. For
this reason incentives are in place to retain sustainable farming activity through organic
subsidies and Less Favoured Area payments. These payments also reflect concerns that
the agricultural community provides the structure around which rural communities
develop. Farms in national park areas are also helped to develop agri-tourism business
through the long-standing ‘Farm Holidays in Austria’ marketing and booking scheme.
In Austria as a whole some 10% of all farms are in agri-tourism schemes.
2.43 Farms participating in national parks voluntarily enter into long-term binding
agreements to protect the natural interests of the park. Agreements include
compensatory payments for income foregone in changing farming and land
management practices.
Case study 5 – National Parks in Austria

LEGAL ARRANGEMENTS IN GESAEUSE NATIONAL PARK (IUCN CATEGORY
II)
Gesaeuse National Park was established in 2002 through the enactment of a national
park law. This law gives priority to the protection of largely unspoilt ‘virgin’
landscapes. The law also includes protection of the important man-made landscape
of Alpine pastures, the people and their traditional way of life. The national park law
for Gesaeuse NP also contains the IUCN Category II criteria as a legal appendix,
raising them to legal enactments.
The national park law set out the boundaries of the park and established two zones –
a natural zone and a protection zone. It also gave legal protection to the commercially
valuable trademarks ‘Nationalpark Gesaeuse’ and ‘Gesaeuse National Park’
There is a very large set of legal stakeholders in the park all of whom were consulted
prior to enactment. The Alpine pasture farmers for example have the same legal
entitlements whether they use their traditional rights or gain a lease from the national
park authority. Selling land is prohibited in the national park, and a simple rule:
‘everything that is not expressly allowed is prohibited’, is applied. However,
participation in the park cannot be made compulsory and all landowners within the
park have made an application to be involved. People using the park commercially
must first apply for a permit, and new sporting events are prohibited. Traditional
events or well established sporting events are allowed to continue with national park
guidance on minimising the impact.
The administration of the park is entrusted to Gesaeuse National Park Ltd. which is
subject in the same way as any company to civil law. However ultimate responsibility
for the park lies with the public authorities for the region. The mayor of a national park
municipality can convene the National Park Forum which provides a link between the
people of the region and the national park administration.
The first priority of the national park law is to promote education and environmental
awareness.
All state laws also apply to national park areas with the exception of general nature
conservation laws which are replaced by a more tailored, detailed and thorough set of
clauses within the national park law.
Case study 6 - Austrian National Parks

A TYPICAL (20 YEARS) MANAGEMENT CONTRACT IN THE KALKALPEN
NATIONAL PARK (IUCN CATEGORY II)
The Kalkalpen National Park (184 km2) was established in 1997 in the Austrian
Central Alps. 80% of the park is forests and it is subdivided into a ’natural zone’ (91%)
and a ‘conservation zone’ (9%). Contracts between the owners of land and the park
management regulate the details of agricultural production and forestry management.
Annual compensation is paid to landowners depending on the type of zone. Where
land is transferred to another owner, the new owner is bound by the terms of the
contract. The park staff and those acting on its behalf may access any land within the
boundaries of the park. In the ‘conservation zone’, 20 alpine pastures are mainly used
for grazing cattle. Regulations in this zone include:
• Requirements to adopt organic farming practices including restrictions on fertiliser
and chemicals and the promotion of animal welfare
• Stocking rates and pasture rotation, and restrictions on damage to soil and
vegetation.
• Drainage and land improvement is forbidden
• Sowing seeds, weed control, clearing of shrubs, tree cutting and disposing materials
are either forbidden or restricted
• Special management is required for slopes steeper than 30%
• Solid manure and urine can only be spread only on meadows that have been mown
(not on pasture) and there are restrictions on the use of liquid manures.
• A daily maximum of 2 kg fodder per livestock unit not produced in the area is
allowed.
• Existing houses may only be used for agricultural activities; they may not be leased
for recreational use or used for other tourist activities. Additional houses or
constructions must be planned in co-ordination with the park management and their
sole purpose must be related to agriculture.
Source: Moser A. 199923
NATIONAL PARKS IN GERMANY
2.44 Germany has 13 national parks ranging from parks on the North Sea coast to the Alps.
The parks are very different in character and protect a variety of habitats ranging from
tidal flats to alpine mountains and meadows and major tracts of ancient broadleaved
woodland. The parks are protected both as refuges for nature and places for relaxation
and rejuvenation, but with the main attraction seen as the nature they contain.
2.45 German national parks are very important to the tourism industry as 72% of Germans
prefer to take their holidays in a region which has been chosen for national park status.
23 Moser, A., 1999, Almbewirtschaftung im Nationalpark (Alpine grassland management in a National Park), Diplomarbeit, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Wien.
This is reflected in the way that parks are managed and promoted, with national park
literature providing itineraries for day trips and promoting activities available during a
week’s stay in the area.
2.46 Parts of most German national parks are in a transitional stage between their former
economic uses and a new policy of minimum intervention. The authorities recognise
that the creating of national parks has led to income foregone for a number of industries
but believe that the long-term benefits are greater than the cash value of former resource
exploitation.
Case study 7 – National parks in Germany - The Vorpommersche

Boddenlandschaft National Park
NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITIES AS TOURISM FACILITATORS
The Vorpommerche Boddenlandschaft National Park is one of 13 national parks in
Germany, which take a similar approach to ensuring visitor appreciation and
enjoyment of their park. The park authority recognises that visitors need to be able to
visualise how they may enjoy their holiday and it provides the following itinerary to
entice visitors, promote a longer stay and encourage access to the food, craft and
activities of the region.
Saturday: Bed and breakfast in an ideal location near the Bodden, the shallow waters
and inlets more or less separated from the Baltic Sea. Check out the area. Eat fresh
Baltic Sea cod in the evening.
Sunday: Sleep in. After breakfast rent some bicycles, ride to the beach and swim in
the Baltic Sea.
Monday: Off to the tourist information to get some brochures, visit the Darss Ark in
Wieck then go for another swim.
Tuesday: Long bicycle tour on good paths to the Sundischen Wiese. In Zingst, book a
national park tour for Thursday. Eat fresh fish in the evening.
Wednesday: Rain, visit the Amber Museum in Ribnitz-Damgarten, then visit the Bird
park in Marlow. On the way back visit a gallery in Ahrenshoop.
Thursday: Guided tour in the national park, ride in a horse and wagon and observe
animals. An organ concert in the evening.
Friday: Day trip to Hiddensee by tour boat – a uniquely beautiful landscape. Candle
light dinner in the evening.
CHAPTER 3
A LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARKS DESIGNATION AND

MANAGEMENT IN OTHER COUNTRIES
3.1 Aspects of national parks have been widely researched across the world and it is
important for this study to draw together the conclusions of this research, in order to
apply it to the emerging situation in Northern Ireland. After providing a general
introduction to the findings, we have summarised the research topic-by-topic as relevant
to the major types of predicted impacts and the expressed concerns of people in
Northern Ireland following the first consultation. We refer mainly to impact studies,
with a final comment on valuation studies.
3.2 The impacts of a national park can only truly be determined where there is a baseline
study prior to designation; a series of follow-up studies; and a determination that there
is a cause-and-effect relationship established between any change in the situation and
the designation of the national park. It needs to be emphasised, in introducing this
chapter, that very few studies of this type exist and in many cases there is an inference,
rather than an established link, that the national park designation is responsible for the
change observed.
3.3 This chapter therefore addresses literature that directly identifies impacts, or which
discusses impacts more generally, which result from national park designation.
THE EUROPARC REPORT ON DESIGNATIONS IN NORTHERN IRELAND 2002
3.4 The report ‘Special Places Need Special Care’24 confirmed that the Mournes AONB25
would meet the criteria to be designated as a national park. This judgement was based
on a comparison with national parks around the world, and particularly with national
park models in Europe.
3.5 A principal benefit identified in the study was that there would be greater recognition of
the national values of the area as a natural and cultural heritage and visitor resource, and
a consequent focus of attention and resources towards its sustainable management. It
was assumed that the mechanism for focussing practical attention would be a national
park authority, with funding employ staff, and to take forward programmes with a
greater level of resources than would otherwise be available. One of the benefits within
this structure would be that it would provide a local driving force towards landscape
conservation, with a balance of local and national objectives in managing the landscape.
A national park plan would provide a mechanism of giving a lead to and engaging a
wide range of bodies in achieving the aims of the designation, and might be expected to
24 Bungay, Clarke, et al 2002 'Special Places need Special Care - . Europarc 2002)
25 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
influence other types of plan. This focal point approach would allow the national park
authority to become a ‘one- stop shop’ or ‘first-stop shop’ for local people to access
information or assistance from a range of Government agencies. It would also assist the
formation of partnerships between stakeholders, such as foresters, farmers, recreational
users and tourism operators to create opportunities both for visitors and for economic
gain.
3.6 The report identified that some national parks have become pioneering organisations in
bringing forward new initiatives and visions. Examples include new forest practices in
the Bayerische Wald National Park; the ‘Test Beds for Rural Revival’ initiative in
England and Wales, and ‘sense of place’ landscape branding for rural produce to
achieve premium prices, through for example the Countryside Agency’s ‘Eat the View’
project.
3.7 The ‘Special Places Need Special Care’ report points to positive economic impacts as a
result of national park designations in Northern Ireland. These benefits accrue mainly to
farmers through the local produce schemes mentioned above, and to farmers and others
providing visitor accommodation, campsites, eating places, recreation and entertainment
opportunities. The report also identifies the long-term importance of national park
designations in maintaining the intrinsic environmental capital of an area and in
promoting sustainable development, particularly in terms of exploiting natural
resources.
3.8 What is not expressed in the report, or in much of the literature, is the idea that the
designation of national parks may also bring disadvantages either at a local or a national
scale. Disadvantages from designation are possible and have been documented26,27,28.
Disadvantages have included: the non-affordability of housing due to planning
constraints creating scarcity of land for new houses, and raising the cost of land for
building; resultant changes in social structure; constraints on opportunities for farm
diversification; traffic problems during peak holiday periods; and the need for local
people to seek jobs outside their home area.
3.9 The following sections of the chapter deal with both advantages and disadvantages of
national parks in more detail and draw on both academic and other literature and
reports.
26 Department of the Environment Environmental Policy Group (2004). National Parks and other Protected Landscape Areas. A discussion of options for establishing
national parks and managing other outstanding landscapes in Northern Ireland.
27 Department for the Environment, F. a. R. A. (July 2002). "Review of English National Park Authorities."
28 Mourne Farmers (2004). "Study Visit to the National Parks: Snowdonia, Wales; and Cairngorms, Scotland."
GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL AUTHORITY INVESTMENT IN NATIONAL PARKS
3.10 The English National Park Authorities and the Broads Authority are funded by Defra.
The Welsh Park Authorities are funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, and the
Scottish Parks by the Scottish Executive. This funding is one of the most direct and
obvious benefits to areas that are designated as national parks and enables the
employment of staff, expenditure on local support services, and the implementation of
programmes locally.
3.11 The proposed budgets of England’s 8 well-established national parks for 2006/07
amount to just over £43 million per year, to be provided through Central Government
and local community charges. The three Welsh national parks receive around £16m in
funding from the Welsh Assembly Government and local authorities. Hence, average
funding in England and Wales is just over £5m per park per year. In Scotland, national
park funding totalled £10.8 million/year in 2004/05, with £6.4m/year (3-year total:
£20m) allocated to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and £4.3m to the
Cairngorms (3-year total: £13.1m).
3.12 Government funding of the park authorities generally increases year on year as the
example below for the Lake District National Park shows:
Lake District National Park Budget (£ million)
0
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06
£ million 3.78 3.78 4.08 4.18 4.64 5.46 5.91 6.05 6.29
Source: Hansard 21 Feb 2005
3.13 A proportion of national funding, and special additional funding initiatives to address
identified issues, may go into grant aid schemes to local people for activities in support
of national park aims. For example, in England each national park has a Sustainable
Development Fund which encourages community-based sustainable development
projects. National park authorities are encouraged by Government to supplement their
statutory funding through other income sources including lottery and EU grants, visitor
payback schemes, car park charging, etc. In addition, most operate business enterprises
such as the sale of souvenirs from visitor centres.
3.14 The Association of National Park Authorities (ANPA) has expressed the view, on
behalf of its members, that national park authorities in England and Wales are not
sufficiently resourced to achieve their statutory objectives.29
Case study 8 - England’s National Parks

NATIONAL PARK SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FUND
The Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) was a pilot funding stream for English
national park authorities and the Broads Authority, launched in 2002, to provide a
flexible and non-bureaucratic means of funding projects which aid the achievement of
national park purposes, through encouraging partnerships between business,
community and individuals towards sustainable development. The fund is intended to
support innovative projects and is relatively small with a total of some £1.6 million30
available annually to the national parks.
The sustainable development fund in the Yorkshire Dales National Park has levered
further funding and has delivered a total of £2.7 million of projects since 2002.
Projects supported included:
- ‘I’m a city dweller get me out of here’ programme to attract urban dwellers who do
not normally visit national parks. This programme reached ethnic minorities, young
people, and people with disabilities
- ‘Go cars’ a not-for-profit car club in part of the national park, which reduces the
need for individual car ownership and establishes a local membership schemes
for a car pool
- a mobile sawmill, to improve the economic returns on the use of local timber
- ‘Grass routes’ countryside skills training for local young people leading to national
qualifications
- youth music action zone project – leading to the composition of a symphony
inspired by the landscapes of the national park
- community composting scheme – reducing the amount of waste to landfill and
providing compost for community planting schemes.
The sustainable development fund in the Lakes District National Park has supported
projects which include:
- installing solar panels in 40 homes in the Lake District
- working with the British Mountaineering Council to improve the relationship
between visitors and residents in Langdale
- funding towards building an Eco-Centre
- educating communities about the benefits of composting
29 ANPA National Parks Financial and Policy Review

30 Sum available in 2003/4
- project to bring young people from outside of the National Park into the Lake
District to give them a better understanding of the environment and how this
affects their lives.
- fell farming traineeships covering animal husbandry and hill farm management,
countryside management and environmental interpretation. The trainees gained
work-experience and qualifications relating to the sustainable management of the
Lake District, with the aim of providing the area with more self-employed
countryside workers.
- development and sale of a natural insulating material made from sheep fleeces –
increasing the value to Lake District farmers of sheep fleeces and providing a
professional marketing operation
3.15 Some national parks may in turn use elements of their funding to provide match funding
to draw-down financial support from other grant making bodies, such as the Heritage
Lottery Fund (HLF). For example, Exmoor National Park Authority has secured
funding from HLF towards the planning of a major Landscape Partnership scheme. The
aim is to further moorland conservation including initiatives to monitor public use,
provide a flexible agri-environment scheme, a ‘Moorkeeper’ scheme to provide locally
based management and a Moorland Challenge Fund to encourage the restoration of
moorland areas improved for agriculture since the 1950s. Friends of the Lake District
has also received HLF funding to celebrate and enhance the heritage, cultural,
environmental and social value of green spaces in the Lake District. Other funding
mechanisms that national parks have been able to attract include EU LIFE and the
European Social Fund.
Case Study 9 – National Parks in Romania

EU LIFE FUNDING FOR RETEZAT NATIONAL PARK, ROMANIA
Retezat NP in Romania has secured EU LIFE funding for a major new initiative for the
conservation of alpine habitats. The Retezat Mountains are one of the most species
rich areas dedicated to nature protection in Romania and are listed as a UNESCO
Biosphere reserve because of their importance internationally. On-site activities to
halt habitat destruction will be implemented along with an education campaign on
long-term preservation of the alpine habitats.
A key aim of the project is to bring Retezat into the Natura 200031 network when
Romania joins the EU. Approximately 130 ha of valuable alpine habitats will be
restored, including dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo) habitats and alpine wetlands.
Work to prevent soil erosion will be carried out at several locations. An information
centre will be established to encourage an improved and durable use of alpine
resources, targeting long-term and intelligent use of existing natural resources and
the development of controlled tourism. The centre will be dedicated to alpine habitats
conservation and will form the basis for a comprehensive awareness campaign for
the promotion of alpine habitats conservation throughout Romania. Over €250,000
has been allocated to the project.
Case Study10 – National Parks in Scotland

CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY – TRAINING FOR LAND BASED
BUSINESSES
The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) provides a scheme to help land
based workers to identify and fulfill their training needs and gain qualifications
relevant to their jobs on estates, crofts, nurseries and woodlands. The scheme
provides advice, funding and training and has helped over 600 individuals and 80
businesses between 2003 and 2006. To date the scheme has been awarded over
£300,000 from the European Social Fund, to help improve efficiency,
competitiveness, flexibility and qualifications.
Courses include: use and maintenance of machinery, equipment and vehicles;
environmental courses; IT and business skills and health and safety courses. Other
modules include wildflower management; water vole conservation through mink
control; woodland management for biodiversity and the signage for outdoor access.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARKS
3.16 The positive economic impacts of national parks lie chiefly in:
• increases in tourists, visitors and recreational users and their expenditure;

• direct Government expenditure in support of the national park authority;
• jobs associated with national park management and visitor services, and
• effects on property values.
31 The EU Natura 2000 network aims to preserve biodiversity by maintaining or restoring natural habitats of Community importance. Sites in the EU are designated under
the terms of the "birds" directive of 1972 and the "habitats" directive of 1992 on the conservation of habitats and species.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/life/natura2000.htm
3.17 Data for the scale of increases in tourism and recreation are detailed in separate sections
of this chapter.
3.18 Most national park authorities estimate the levels of visitor expenditure in their areas;
however, few compare this against an established pre-designation baseline figures.
Clearly national parks provide a visitor focus and the ‘national’ park brand acts as a
guarantee of landscape quality for people planning trips to the country or area. An
estimated 70 million visits are made to national parks in England and Wales each year
for example. In 2001, the 280 million people who visited the 388 sites within the
American national park system spent $10.6 billion during their park visits. This
spending generated $4.5 billion in wages, salaries, and payroll benefits, and 267,000
jobs in tourism-related businesses.
3.19 The economic impacts of visitors to national parks are of three kinds
• Direct expenditure on accommodation, travel, eating out, services such as

guiding, equipment hire, etc.
• Indirect benefits to industry from purchases including wholesale,
transportation, quality assurance and training
• Induced effects from the cycling of visitor income through the local
economy (e.g. additional expenditure by the households of accommodation
and service providers, and by their employees)
Case study 11a – USA National Parks

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF NATIONAL PARK DESIGNATION OF THE BLACK
CANYON OF THE GUNNISON ON MONTROSE COUNTY, COLORADO.
The Park comprises circa 27,000 acres of land, hosting 200,000 visitors annually and
has a budget of circa US $700,000 The change in the public land designation from
Black Canyon of Gunnison National Monument to National Park was estimated to
have yielded 24,226 additional visitors (12% increase). About 1-in-4 people are
employed in the professional service sector and more than 1-in-4 in retail trade,
economic sectors traditionally important in economies driven by tourism. About 10%
of the Montrose County population works in agricultural production and services and
8% are employed in the construction industry.
Spending by visitors generates new sales of retail and services in Montrose County
(these are equivalent to exports in their value to the economy). Estimated local
expenditures per visitor were divided among six sectors: lodging ($27), eating and
drinking ($12), travel ($11), equipment and miscellaneous retail ($11), recreation
services ($4) and food stores ($3). The total estimated local expenditure per visitor
(direct effect) equals $68. There are also positive effects (indirect effects) on services,
such as restaurant supplies, wholesale trade and transport. The small size and
relative isolation of this community means that most of these indirect effects would be
spread over a wider area than the national park. The expenditures of those with
increased incomes generate additional cycles of local economic activity (induced
effect). The combined direct, indirect, and induced effects produce the final changes
in output, income, and employment for the local economy.
Combining the estimate of 24,226 additional visitors with the total local visitor spend
estimates ($68 per visitor), an estimated direct effect of $1.65m in new export sales
due to the re-designation of the Black Canyon from National Monument to National
Park. When direct effects are combined with the indirect and induced effects, the
estimated total economic impact of the designation is more than $2.4m.
The output multipliers for most retail goods and services directly affected tourism are
between 1.4 and 1.5 indicating that $0.4-0.5m worth of additional economic activity
takes place in Montrose County for each $1m of direct export sales. The direct effects
of tourism expenditures were largest in hotels, eating and drinking establishments.
Together, these two sectors are estimated to have experienced more than 40% of the
total change in economic activity due to the re-designation of the Black Canyon. The
greatest indirect effects were found in real estate and construction related industries
and induced effects were largest in the real estate industry and the hospitality sector.
Additional output of this nature also produces additional employment, with a total
impact of 63 jobs, or approximately 0.3% of Montrose County’s current total
employment. About 80% of the direct employment impacts and 67% of the
employment benefits were expected to benefit the hospitality sector.
Source: Seidl & Weiler (2001)32
Case Study 11 b
VISITOR EXPENDITURE AND BENEFITS OF USA’S NATIONAL PARKS
In 2001, the 280 million people who visited the 388 sites within the USA’s national
park system spent $10.6 billion during their park visits. This spending generated $4.5
billion in wages, salaries and payroll benefits and 267,000 jobs in tourism-related
businesses.
California has 23 national park areas that protect millions of acres of significant
cultural, historical and natural landscapes and welcomes millions of visitors annually.
Visitors to ten California parks in 2001 (Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree
National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Mojave National Preserve, Pinnacles
National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, Redwood National Park, Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park,
and Yosemite National Park) spent a total of $643 million in the surrounding
communities, supporting nearly 16,900 non-National Park Service jobs and
generating more than $266 million worth of wages, salaries and payroll benefits.
3.20 National park authority budgets in Great Britain have been detailed earlier in this
section. These budgets are spent largely within the local economy of the national park
and pay for salaries, the planning system, conservation work, office consumables,
printing, countryside recreation, management and access work, fuel, vehicles etc. Both
the expenditure within a wide range of businesses and the jobs bring benefits to the area
which would not be in place without a national park.
3.21 National park authorities provide a range of jobs normally at an administrative base in
the area. The jobs range from director and senior staff jobs normally requiring
32 Seidl & Weiler (2001) The Economic Impact of National Park Designation of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison on Montrose County, Colorado.
graduates, through to cleaning and ancillary staff and land trades. NPAs also provide
new enterprise and growth funding to sustainable rural businesses and this can have a
direct impact on the number of jobs available in an area. The number of jobs in national
park authorities in England and Wales is some 960. The number of jobs in individual
NPAs varies, with the following examples
• The New Forest National Park Authority, which took up its powers on 1st
April 2006, has a total of 37 staff
• The Lake District National Park Authority has over 200 staff and the
voluntary charity Friends of the Lake District has 13 staff and 6,800
members
• The Northumberland National Park Authority has 74 staff.
3.22 Some national park authorities have played a further important role in their local
economy through training and development to improve the scope or quality of jobs
available to people within their parks. In the Brecon Beacons National Park, for
example, to help stem the loss of young people from the area, a modern apprenticeships
scheme has been developed to provide countryside training and accreditation and an
activity tourism training scheme has been provided free to make businesses in the area
more competitive.
3.23 An evaluation33 of the economic impacts of French regional parks in 1996 showed that
whilst it is difficult to establish the wider economic benefits, there has been direct job
creation of between 17,600 and 31,400 jobs between all 34 parks at a cost to
Government of £350 per job, considerably less than through other job creation methods.
3.24 The international national park brand and the individual national park brand both have a
commercial value and can enable premium pricing of products produced in the area if
the brand is well used and effective schemes of quality control and promotion are
devised. Branding has benefited accommodation, local produce and craft schemes in
national parks. There is also evidence that the national park brand affects property
prices. Any financial assistance from a national park authority could be subject to
restrictions imposed by EU regulations in relation to state aid.
Case study 12 – Scotland’s National Parks

LOCH LOMOND AND THE TROSSACHS - PROMOTING LOCAL PRODUCE
33 CDC Consultants 1996 Les PNR et l'emploi for Federation des PNR
In the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, a study commissioned by The
Lomond & Rural Stirling LEADER+ Programme researched the viability and
practicality of setting up an outlet to offer residents and visitors year round access to
local produce. The study began by compiling a database of local food and drink and
art and craft producers, consulting in depth with the producers and other
organisations and looking at similar projects elsewhere in Scotland and England. The
study found that:
• The total product range is limited and most food and drink producers already have
markets
• There is a gulf, largely due to lack of information, between local food and drink
producers and retail outlets and attractions
• There is support for moves to better promote local produce
• Existing outlets such as hotels, restaurants and B&Bs are seeking to source more
niche and local produce
• Craft producers were receptive to ideas involving joint working
Though ruling out a single outlet as a way forward, the study identified opportunities
to increase both the range of produce and the number of outlets for local produce.
Other initiatives include the development of a local food and trade directory, web
marketing of produce from the area, and the development of quality local produce
brand for the area.
3.25 The negative impacts of national parks on the local economy are not well researched
and suffer from a lack of initial baseline setting and monitoring. National parks in
England are being encouraged, through local development framework plans (under the
terms of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004) to set and monitor targets on
a range of measures including the local economy to assist tracking of the impacts. A
decline in the number of agricultural workers and in manufacturing industries is typical
of national park areas, together with an increase in the proportion of service, tourism
and retail jobs. These trends are not exclusive to national parks and affect most
peripheral rural areas with marginal conditions for agriculture.
Case study 13 – National Parks in Wales

SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK – A COMPARISON OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY
WITH THE REST OF GWYNEDD AND WITH WALES
The underlying picture in Wales and more particularly Snowdonia is one of relative
disadvantage in comparison with the national and European situation. This is
recognised by the designation of the whole of the Snowdonia National Park as an EU
Objective 1 Area. Although agriculture is still the dominant land use, technological
changes are continuing to reduce the numbers employed and today it only accounts
for 17% of the total labour force. Employment in the National Park now has a much
stronger reliance on services (tourism, administration, professional and retail) than it
does on either agriculture or other primary industries, including quarrying. This factor
combined with the extreme weakness of the manufacturing sector illustrates the
vulnerability of the local economy.
Unemployment rates in Gwynedd are subject to marked seasonal variations and are
consistently above the average for Wales and the UK. Average earnings have shown
a noticeable decline from 92.8% of the national average in 1985 to 85% in 1991. The
decommissioning of Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station, which originally employed
over 600 and was noted for its higher than average wages, has further aggravated
this situation.
Snowdonia has always been peripheral to the large domestic markets although
historically this was not as important when its main exports were non-perishable, high
bulk cargoes and livestock. Today the National Park is not well located to gain
specific benefit from the Single European Market.
Wealth creation and environmental quality are increasingly important to business,
beyond tourism and recreation. Many businesses, particularly in the new higher
technology and professional sectors, cite environmental quality as a prime reason for
locating in rural areas. The appeal of the natural beauty of the Park will therefore
remain central to its economy and planning policies aimed at maintaining and
enhancing its special qualities should offer more employment opportunities than
constraints, in the future.
The traditional agricultural and slate industries which shaped the National Park and its
communities have suffered substantial decline since the beginning of the 20th
century.
In terms of employment structure Snowdonia National Park has a much stronger
primary sector and a much weaker manufacturing sector than the surrounding area
and the rest of Wales.
Sector Snowdonia Gwynedd Wales
Primary 22% 11% 6%
Manufacturing 7% 11% 20%
Construction 8% 6% 5%
Service 62% 72% 69%
The most significant characteristic of this structure is the weakness of the local
manufacturing sector. Within the primary sector, agriculture still plays a dominant role
and Gwynedd still has the third largest agricultural labour force in Wales (14.5% of
the total out of only 8.4% of the country’s population). The limited productivity of the
land in Snowdonia restricts its use to the raising of sheep and store cattle and limits
the opportunities to diversify into other areas of agriculture. The survival of a healthy
agricultural economy is nevertheless important, not only as a source of employment
but also in conserving the landscape and maintaining the social character of the area,
in particular its cultural and linguistic identity.
The primary employment sector is strongly represented in the National Park by the
energy industry which until recently was dominated by employment at the
Trawsfynydd nuclear power station. Its decommissioning and closure has had an
adverse affect on the local economy and increased the out-migration of its skilled
workforce. This has further aggravated an existing trend amongst the young to move
away in search of further education, training and better paid employment. The young
have been replaced by the elderly moving back or retiring to the National Park
thereby reducing economic activity rates to a low level of only 45%. Whilst retirees
contribute to the local economy financially, their ability to create wealth through their
own employment is limited.
The service sector now dominates the economy of the National Park providing 62% of
its workforce. Apart from public services, most other service sector businesses
including tourism, retail and distribution are characterised by their small scale. Within
Gwynedd over 90% of service sector businesses employ fewer than 10 people. Many
of these jobs are not well paid and suffer from problems of poor public perception and
seasonality, particularly those in the tourism sector. If the prospects for tourism are to
improve in the face of increasing competition from other UK and international
destinations, then efforts must be made to improve its quality, extend the season and
encourage increased visitor spending.
Source Extract from Eryri Local Plan (Snowdonia National Park, Wales)
3.26 Many national park authorities are recognising that tourism brings both advantages and
disadvantages to the local economy. Tourism jobs, particularly in the hospitality sector,
are usually poorly paid, seasonal and more likely to be taken up by foreign nationals
than local people. If local people are employed they often have to live outside the area
to be able to afford housing on the wages paid. Many types of tourism, with
international hotel chains, and tour operators add less value to the national park
economy than park based businesses. National park authorities have begun therefore to
prioritise the development of specialist forms of tourism, based on nature, activities and
special interests, where there is greater value added within the area and less leakage of
benefits from the local economy to companies based outside the national park area.
Case study 14 – Exmoor National Park

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF TOURISM’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE
NATIONAL PARK ECONOMY
The tourist industry in Exmoor National Park has had to become more competitive
and specialised to attract visitors. The decline in the fishing, farming and forestry
industries has led to tourism being the main industry. Exmoor National Park Authority
considers that tourism brings both advantages and disadvantages:
• It brings employment, particularly when other industries have declined
• Tourists use services which may not be viable if only supported by local people
• Tourists purchase local produce, supporting other parts of the economy
• Tourism brings grant aid and support which may not be available to other sectors
of the economy, particularly for bringing in foreign visitors
However
• Services must be developed to meet with a peak demand in summer whilst
facilities may be little used at other times of the year
• Local people have to pay towards services which are provided for others
• It provides low paid, seasonal work with long hours; so many local people cannot
afford to live in the area
• Concentrations of visitors can bring particular problems such as traffic congestion,
path erosion, noise, litter, crime and health problems, the management of which
require additional resources.
IMPACTS ON PROPERTY PRICES
3.27 Research focusing on the impact of a national park designation on property values
obtains values through a technique called ‘hedonic pricing’. This technique takes apart
the price of market goods to identify the value of their particular attributes, e.g. the
increase in value of a property because it overlooks a river, lake or park. The research
indicates that an amenity such as a national park is likely to increase property prices in
the vicinity of the park but that this impact is determined in part by whether or not the
property market is already highly developed in the area34. Other examples of hedonic
pricing studies in the UK have shown that proximity to trees can positively influence
property values by 3.5% to 7% and thus auctioneering profits35,36,37
3.28 In America positive impacts on property prices have been experienced on the fringes of
national parks, neighbourhood parks, community parks, recreational features such as
greenways and beside water38 with property values increasing by up to 33%. Positive
effects have also been found in relation to other types of designation including nature
conservation, and in relation to the availability of quality recreational opportunities.39
3.29 Impact on property prices at designation will depend on the extent to which the area is
already seen as a desirable place to live in, to have a second home in, to invest in, or to
retire to.
3.30 Increase in property prices can be viewed as either a benefit, or a cost, depending on
whether those experiencing it are potential buyers, seller, developers or investors. In the
case of the recent designation of the New Forest National Park in England, concerns
about the increase in local property prices were raised widely during the consultation
period.
IMPACTS ON HOUSING STOCK AND HOUSE PRICES
3.31 The Association of National Park Authorities in England and Wales has identified40 that
some communities in national parks are no longer mixed working communities, and that
the trend is towards continued decline. Local people cannot afford to enter the housing
market and there is a movement of young people and working families away from
34 In regard to property prices hedonic pricing can determine value contributions of factors such as building size and materials, availability of public transport, access to
schools and parks, views and the quality of an area. See for example Lake et al (1997). Brief discussions with auctioneers in Ireland indicate that they concur with the
conclusion that properties are worth more when they are adjacent to, or in view of, rivers, lakes, sea or national parks. Also see, Willis and Garrod (1993).
35 Countryside Agency (2000). Economic Benefits of Community Forestry, Phase 1 Study.
36 Seidl, A., & Weiler, S. (2001). Economic impact of National Park designation of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison on Montrose County, Colorado. Department of
Agricultural and Resource Economics, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1172 November 2001-APR 01-08
37 Weiler, S, Scorsone, E & Pullman, M (2000) “Information Linkages in Local Economic Development.” Growth and Change, 31:3, 367-384.
38 Economic Research Associates 2005 Real Estate Impact Review of Parks and Recreation for Illinois Association of Park Districts
39 Phillips, S.R. 2004 Windfalls for wilderness land protection and land value in the Green Mountains – PhD thesis Virginia State University
40 Association of National Park Authorities Housing Paper
national park areas and towards adjacent towns. The reasons are primarily twofold;
firstly, that many original social housing units41 have been sold, due to successive
Government home ownership incentives; and, secondly, due to restrictive policies on
new housing and industrial development in national parks in the interests of landscape
protection. Land in national parks now cannot be bought at a price that would allow the
development of new social housing under current social housing grant aid policies, even
if the national park multiplier allowed for within social housing grants in England is
taken into account.
3.32 The serious shortage of affordable housing within the national parks, particularly affects
young people and key workers. In all the local authority areas within England’s national
parks, average gross full-time earnings are nearly 15% below the national average42.
While wages are low, house prices in six of the Parks are above the national average.
The most extreme example is the Lake District, where the mean price of a house in a
ward inside the Park is more than £60,000 higher than in the other wards of the
constituent local authorities43. While affordability has become a growing problem, the
availability of social housing for rent or sale has been declining steadily.
3.33 Although completion rates for open market housing in most of the national parks have
been high over the last decade, only a relatively low proportion of these completions
have comprised affordable housing stock. For example, a total of 81 units of affordable
housing were built in Dartmoor between 1995 and 2002, or 12 per annum, compared
with an average of 146 per annum of all types of housing over the same period. Access
to affordable housing is compounded by the rising cost of rural housing for local people.
In Exmoor National Park, for example, a study by the national park authority in 2003
showed that, of housing built over the last twenty years, only one in ten dwellings is
occupied by a local person and a quarter are second or holiday homes. 28% of houses in
the Lake District National Park, and 12% of homes in the North York Moors National
Park are vacant, or are second or holiday homes.44
3.34 This issue has not arisen purely as a result of the national park designation, but is clearly
an impact that has been most acutely felt in such areas. The problem is also a function
of the attractiveness of the landscape to people wishing to settle or purchase second
homes. In Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, the social housing issue pre-dated the
designation of the national park and came about as a result of similar factors, with the
addition of a constraint on sewerage services within many settlements in the national
park. In some cases the policies of the national park authorities have exacerbated the
41 Affordable housing and public sector and housing association rented housing, similar to housing options provided through the Housing Executive in Northern
Ireland
42 Cairncross et al 2004 Planning for Affordable Housing. Lessons from the English National Parks – paper to the Housing Studies Association Conference Belfast
2004
43 Ibid.
44 Lake District National Park 2005 Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report.
situation. For example, the controversial policy in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
whereby a redundant barn could be converted into accommodation for a holiday home,
but could not be converted into a permanent dwelling to meet a local housing need.
This policy was subsequently revised and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
has recently adopted a policy whereby the sale of new homes or barn conversions will
be restricted to buyers who qualify under the scheme as ‘local’. The Authority's
planning committee has now agreed on a restrictive occupancy policy45 as the way to
tackle the problem of high house prices preventing local people from staying in the area.
Virtually all new homes can be built in the Dales if they meet local housing needs and
are sold at below-market prices to local people. They cannot be bought as second homes
or holiday lets. The policy, which is part of the Yorkshire Dales local plan, was backed
by the government planning inspector, who held a public inquiry into objections to the
local plan last summer. The policy is aimed at fostering the economic and social well-
being of local communities within the National Park.
3.35 Second or holiday homes have a number of effects, in that their occupants may spend
less in the local area than a permanent resident; they normally reduce the numbers of
people available to create and sustain a community in an area, particularly during winter
and weekdays; and they remove properties which have traditionally been towards the
affordable end of the housing spectrum from the local housing stock. The concentration
of second homes in particular geographic areas and villages can cause 'micro-crises' in
some local housing markets. Recent research46 investigating the impact of new
affordable housing in rural areas suggests that, in villages where over 20 per cent of the
housing stock is second homes, this can have serious implications for the sustainability
of these settlements. Villages that have a high proportion of second homes are
associated with greater general out-migration, compared with villages where the
proportion of second and holiday homes is lower (under 10%). Detailed case study
work in the Lake District47,48 on house prices and patterns of second home ownership at
the level of individual communities has found evidence to conclude that second homes
do exert an inflationary pressure on house prices.
Case Study15 – National Parks in England and Wales

EXISTING AND PROPOSED SECOND HOMES POLICIES IN ENGLAND AND
WALES
45 Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors 2005 ‘Restricted occupancy in the Dales’ – RICS Library Service
46 Blenkinship, J, (2004) Housing: An effective way to sustain our rural communities. Part 1: The effects of affordable housing on rural communities. Cumbria Rural
Housing Trust.
47 Clark, G. (1982) Housing and Planning in the Countryside, Chichester: Research Studies Press.
48 Gallent, N. and Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2000) Rural Second Homes in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate.
In 2002 eight out of twelve national parks and councils reviewed49 in England and
Wales had no specific policy on second homes (Ceredigion County Council, Conwy
County Borough Council, Powys Council, Pembrokeshire Coast NPA/Pembrokeshire
County Council, Snowdonia NPA, Brecon Beacons NPA, Peak District NPA and Lake
District NPA).
Of the remainder:
- Gwynedd County Council had a policy whereby any proposals that would lead to
an increase in second homes should be refused in communities where the level of
second homes had reached 10 per cent;
- Dartmoor NPA did not have a specific policy, but a change of use from a holiday
home to residential use would be viewed positively;
- Yorkshire Dales NPA had a policy where houses built under their local needs
policy should not become second homes and the occupation of housing to meet
local needs would be restricted to prevent subsequent sale to those without a local
connection. It was reiterated that such dwellings would not be available as
second or holiday homes.
- Exmoor NPA proposed that planning applications for change of use would have to
be submitted if owners did not intend to spend more than 6 months of the year
living in the property. Authorities would be instructed to refuse applications that
could endanger the economic welfare of local communities who depend on the
year-round trade of full-time residents, rather than the seasonal income from
holiday home owners. This would not be granted where 10 per cent of homes are
second homes. The proposals by Exmoor NPA were subsequently dropped from
the Local Plan after comments from the Government Office for the South West. It
was felt that potential use of a dwelling as a second home could not legitimately
be controlled by planning legislation, and that such a policy would be difficult to
monitor and enforce. Further, there were concerns that the policy might only
increase house prices beyond the national park and would be open to challenge in
the courts by potential homebuyers. Instead, the revised deposit Local Plan aims
to focus almost exclusively on the provision of affordable housing to achieve levels
of affordable housing required to meet community needs within the National Park.
Reproduced from Beavan, M. and Rhodes, D. 2005 The Impact of Second and
Holiday Homes in Rural Scotland. Research for Communities Scotland Paper 58
3.36 In England, the social housing issue, which extends beyond national parks, is now being
addressed through Defra’s Rural Strategy which empowers rural development agencies
and local authorities in this respect. Individual national park authorities are also
developing new policies. The Peak District National Park Authority, for example, aims,
through binding agreements, to restrict occupancy of newly-built homes to people with
strong local connections (e.g. 10 years residence in the past 20 years) in perpetuity. This
has the effect of keeping prices to around 37 per cent below open market levels. Homes
49 Johnston, E. (2002) Preliminary Consultation Report on Rural Housing Proposals. Cardiff: IWA/JRF.
must also be modest in size to retain affordability and new homes for the open market
are generally only allowed if they are conversions of existing buildings within
settlements or enhancements of derelict sites. The Authority also works closely with
other local authorities, parishes and social housing providers to encourage more homes
for rent or shared ownership (e.g. part mortgage, part rent). This model is being more
widely adopted, for example in Exmoor National Park.
3.37 In Wales, the national parks are working on new policies to enable thriving, healthy and
sustainable communities. Brecon Beacons NP, for example, has included two policies in
its unitary development plan. The first enables the NPA to require, where the need is
proven, that developers provide at least 20% of all houses as affordable homes, on all
future housing sites of two or more dwellings. The second allows affordable housing to
be developed outside the limits of existing settlements, where there is adjoining land or
where the development provides a logical extension of the settlement.
3.38 The Review of National Park Authorities in Wales in 2003 identified a predominantly
negative perception among national park communities and businesses about the impact
of the national park authorities’ planning roles at the local level. Concerns included
impacts on communities and their wellbeing through restrictions on development and
growth, and restrictions on the development and growth of local businesses. NPAs in
Wales will now be required to promote the benefits of their planning functions and to
take a proactive stance towards appropriate development. The Welsh Executive believes
that it is important to ensure that there is no incompatibility between conserving the
national parks and providing for the needs of their living and working communities and
that this should remain a guiding principle for planning within the national parks.
3.39 Problems of social housing supply and its consequent effects of hardship, out-migration
and the loss of mixed communities are well researched and documented in the literature
about national parks. Clearly some national park policies have contributed to the scale
of the issues in England and Wales. This is partly a problem of the designation, which
focuses attention on the area as a pleasant place to live and creates demand from people
outside the area for permanent and second homes. The acuteness of the problem
however is a function of the policies introduced subsequent to designation, rather than
an inevitable consequence of it. It must also be said that areas not designated as national
parks and which are highly attractive experience many of the same problems.
Case Study 15 - Peak District National Park

POPULATION, JOBS AND HOUSING IN THE PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK
For many years the National Park’s population has remained at around 38,000. The
overall provision of homes and jobs is well balanced and unemployment rates are
relatively low. There are about 15,000 jobs, of which 52% are in services (including
tourism), 19% in manufacturing and 12% each in quarrying and farming. The National
Park’s economy is closely linked with those of nearby towns and there is much cross-
boundary movement.
However, this apparent stability is threatened by changing national and regional

economic circumstances. There are pockets of hidden deprivation, and market forces
can place pressure on the National Park which leads to local people being
disadvantaged. Many jobs are seasonal, part-time or relatively low paid. To try and
counter this, a partnership between authorities has been put in place to make the best
possible use of European and UK systems for economic regeneration.
The level of community based services, such as post offices and shops in the
National Park, has been in a continuing decline over the 1990s. Less than half of the
smaller parishes have a permanent general store. This, however, generally reflects
national rural trends. Such services need to be safeguarded if the communities of the
Park are to prosper and unsustainable transport patterns reduced.
The favourable environment and location of the Peak District continues to influence
the price of open market housing. Pressure from surrounding urban areas has inflated
prices beyond the reach of local people, resulting in pressure for affordable housing
provision within the National Park. In response to such pressures over the last ten
years, policies to control development have focused on meeting local needs, rather
than the ‘market driven’ desire to live and work in an attractive area.
Extract from the Peak District National Park Management Plan – Strategy 2000-2005
IMPACTS ON BUILT HERITAGE
3.40 An important layer within most national park landscapes is the distinctive built heritage
that expresses both the character of the underlying rocks and landforms, and the
traditional skills and culture of the people who live there. National park policies seek to
retain the built heritage within the landscape. The designation and subsequent land use
policies normally provide improved protection and greater incentive to maintain
vernacular buildings, through resisting new green field sites within the parks where
alternatives, such as restoration of existing buildings, are possible.
3.41 The conservation of the built heritage has been a particular success of national parks in
England and Wales with a high level of retention of traditional features and building
styles, and with the majority of vernacular houses retained within the housing stock.
The effect of requiring the use of traditional materials in new homes and renovations,
maintains traditional skills in the area, which benefits the maintenance of traditional
buildings. The main tool that national parks use to protect built heritage is strong
planning policies with effective enforcement.
3.42 National park authorities normally have built heritage specialists on their staff to assist
home owners and developers make appropriate plans and many issues are solved prior
to the application for planning permission.
Case Study 16 – Yorkshire Dales National Park

CONSERVING AND ENHANCING THE HISTORIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Built Heritage Conservation Team
works to conserve and enhance the built heritage of the area. Visitors appreciate the
traditional houses, farms and landscape features of the Dales and local people want
to pass on this heritage to future generations. The Built Heritage team has a number
of roles including:
Maintaining up-to-date policies and proposals relating to conservation issues in the
National Park Authority Local Plan
- Supporting policies within the local plan with more detailed advice through the
publication of Supplementary Planning Guidance, such as Conservation Area
Character Statements and Guidance Notes
- A continual process of reviewing existing and potential conservation areas and
their boundaries
- Maintaining records of the listed buildings within the Authority’s boundaries
- Providing advice to owners, purchasers and developers on the restoration and
enhancement of listed buildings, development within conservation areas and
works to all aspects of the historic built environment
- Working with the Development Control Service to assess planning applications,
and applications for listed building or conservation area consent
- Working with the Enforcement Service to resolve infringements of planning law
relating to listed buildings and conservation areas.
IMPACTS ON TOURISM
3.43 National park designations are thought to provide positive effects on levels of tourism to
a national park area. The designation has the effect of branding and differentiating the
area from those around it, making it more likely to be a ‘must see’ area for certain types
of tourists. Evidence for this is sparse due to the lack of before-and-after studies. In the
Fulufjället National Park in Sweden, where a baseline survey50 was undertaken both
one year prior to and one year after the designation of the park, there was a 40%
increase in visitors, and one in ten visitors was specifically influenced to visit as a result
of the designation (the remainder because they became aware of and could gain access
to a special waterfall. The numbers of visitors in parts of the park showed a smaller
increase – e.g. on one walking trail the numbers increased by only 12%.
Case study 17 – Sweden’s National Parks

FULUFJÄLLET NATIONAL PARK – IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARK
DESIGNATION
50
Fredman, P.2004 National Park Designation, Visitor Flows and tourism impact – Working paper of the Finnish Forest Research
Institute.
Fulufjället became Sweden’s 28th national park in 2002. The 38,000 hectare park
provides opportunities for hiking on 140 km of trails and has a large wilderness area.
The area has two main tourist attractions– Njupeskär, Sweden’s highest waterfall,
and the large “flash flood channel” in the Göljån Valley caused by massive soil
erosion during a rainstorm in the summer of 1997. The aim of the national park is to
preserve the area’s natural value in an unspoiled condition and to give visitors
experiences of wilderness, tranquillity and nature.
The park is divided into four zones, with different management regimes according to
the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum51. The division into zones has been made along
a scale from wilderness to more developed parts of the park. The majority of the
national park is managed for isolation and tranquillity whilst the area around the
waterfall is easily accessible and has a high degree of service for visitors.
53,000 people visited Fulufjället in the summer of 2003, an increase of 40%
compared with 2001. Almost the entire increase occurred in the more developed
sections of the park, around the waterfall. In a survey one-tenth of the visitors
recorded that they came mainly because the area is a national park.
Visitor expenditure in the park amounted in 2003 to 5 million Swedish Kroner (SEK)
within the park and SEK 12m in the surrounding area. Expenditure by the same
visitors in the wider region of Sweden totalled SEK 41.2m and in the country as a
whole SEK 74.4m. Whilst total visitor expenditure rose, due to the increase in visitors,
average expenditure in the national park area by visitors fell between 2001 and 2003
and is now the subject of further study. Average lengths of stay also fell from 1.6 days
to 1.2 days, reflecting the fact that new visitors to the park were predominantly
attracted to ‘honeypots’ and those areas of easy access. Willingness to pay for
certain services such as car parking in the national park however increased.
Other changes included an increase in the proportion of female visitors, city dwellers
and people without hunting, shooting or fishing interest in the national park area.
Source: European Tourism Research Institute
3.44 Surveys have been carried out in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and Cairngorms
National Parks52 in Scotland, post-designation, which included the following questions
and responses:
In your decision to visit the Cairngorms area how important was the fact that this area is a
National Park?
Total Scottish Other UK Overseas
1439 745 485 209
Very important 7% 7% 7% 8%
Quite important 18% 15% 20% 23%
Neither/nor 13% 14% 11% 15%
Not very important 17% 16% 20% 13%
Not at all important 44% 47% 41% 39%
Don’t know 1% 1% 1% 2%
51 The Recreational Opportunity Spectrum is widely used in national parks in the USA to define management of visitors. It ranges from wilderness areas with little
intervention on the ground and a high assumption of risk and self sufficiency by the visitors to areas where the visitor is cared for and managed and efforts are made to
reduce risk and provide services and guidance.
52 Research carried out for the national park authorities by Lowland Research, Glasgow. Cross tabulation kindly provided by Jeremy Quinn
In your decision to visit the Loch Lomond area how important was the fact that this area is a
National Park?
Total Scottish Other UK Overseas
2016 1152 591 273
Very important 2% 2% 1% 1%
Quite important 23% 19% 27% 30%
Neither/nor 25% 25% 27% 26%
Not very important 26% 28% 23% 22%
Not at all important 22% 24% 18% 18%
Don’t know 3% 3% 4% 2%
3.45 Clearly the decision to visit may have been influenced in around 25% of cases in each
national park by the designation, but for the majority of visitors it was not an important
factor. Both areas were very well known before designation and were busy tourism
areas, with Loch Lomond arguably better known – especially by day visitors, and this is
possibly reflected in the very low percentage (2% compared with 8% in the
Cairngorms) of people for whom the designation was a very important factor in the
decision to visit. The importance of the designation increased slightly in both cases for
people from the rest of the UK and overseas indicating the potential of designation to
draw an increased number of out of state and overseas visitors to an area. Some national
parks (e.g. Cairngorms) allow businesses to use the national park brand to sell their
products, under certain quality and environmental criteria.
3.46 In 1994 and 1995 a question was included in Bord Failte tourism exit surveys53 asking
whether visitors54 had visited national parks in Ireland during their stay in the country.
The results were that 14% (1994) and 16% (1995) of all visitors had done so. This
placed national parks in a more significant position to tourism than passive activities
such as garden visits, watching horse races, genealogy and island visits and also than all
active pursuits, including golf, which topped the activities list in 1995. No questions
were asked about how significant national parks were in the decision to visit Ireland.
3.47 While national park designation has been shown to enhance the importance and interest
in sites as tourist destinations, park authorities cannot expect an instantaneous increase
in visitor numbers. Building awareness and interest and related economic impact (in
terms of direct and indirect jobs and distributed economic impacts) has been shown to
accelerate rapidly in the years immediately following the designation, while levelling-
off after a four to five year period. This dynamic reinforces the likelihood that external
visitors who target national parks are most sensitive to the designation, while
designation is unlikely to change the local population’s propensity to visit an already
well-known resource55.
53 Bord Failte undated, Perspectives of Irish Tourism The Product. 1991-1995

54 Anyone visiting Ireland for any length of time up to a year and not for work.
55 Seidel and Weiler 2001
IMPACTS ON ACCESS AND RECREATION
3.48 One of the primary purposes of national parks across the world is to provide or enhance
opportunities for active study, appreciation and enjoyment. National park authorities
therefore usually put a major part of their resources into this aspect of park
management. There is an expectation amongst visitors to national parks that extensive
opportunities to access the countryside will be provided. Facilities for access and
recreation by visitors normally include:
• Walking paths and trails of different lengths giving access to aspects of

special interest within the park – e.g. mountain trails, valley and riverside
walks, coastal walks;
• Guided opportunities to explore and hear more about the area, on foot, on
horseback, in boats, etc.
• Opportunities to explore independently using other sustainable forms of
transport, such as canoes, rafts, cycles, horses, etc.
• Opportunities in particular national park areas for caving, mountaineering,
rock climbing, cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering, white-water
canoeing;
• Opportunities for study of the geology, natural interest or cultural interest of
the park area, and
• In upland areas and moors – access opportunities to open country as well as
on trails.
3.49 Visitor expectations of recreational provision may be formed from previous visits to
other national parks, for example a survey in 2003 showed that 40% of visitors to Loch
Lomond and the Trossachs had also visited the Lake District and 23% had visited the
Yorkshire Dales.
3.50 Extensive recreational opportunity is a key criterion in rest of the UK for deciding
whether a special landscape is designated as an AONB or a national park, along with the
size of the area. Some 63% of visitors56 to national parks in England and Wales walk
during their visit, with 18% taking a walk of over 4 hours duration. These specialist
walkers require a reasonably extensive area of assured access (e.g. open country access,
or trails) and infrastructure (e.g. paths, signs).
3.51 National park authorities normally produce or support the production of activity guides
to the area which serve as a means of visitor management, identify access opportunities
and determine behaviour that is acceptable within the national park. NPAs will also
normally produce codes for the sustainable recreational use of the national park area.
56 National Park Visitor Survey 1994
3.52 The sheer numbers of people visiting national parks for recreation brings problems,
which need very active management by national park authorities. Issues include erosion
of paths, trampling of vegetation, particularly in sensitive upland areas, traffic
congestion, illegal parking and disruption of work for local people. In the Lake District,
where there are some 12 million visitors each year, 87% of whom use country
footpaths, for example an extensive programme of footpath repair is undertaken each
year. Some of the footpath scars in the Lake District are so large that they can be seen
on satellite photographs. Erosion repairs in a national park are an expensive activity
involving the provision of a robust surface. A survey of the scale of erosion in the Lake
District in 1999 estimated that repairs were required to a total of 180 upland paths
involving 41,690 person days of work and costing a total of some £4.6 million. The
National Trust, a major landowner in the Lake District employs four full- time footpath
teams to manage erosion impacts. This issue is widespread in national parks across the
world and is a function of too many people using unsurfaced paths, for example over
400,000 people walk up Snowdon each year an average of over 1,000 people per day,
on paths which are failing to sustain levels of use and adverse weather conditions.
National park authorities are reluctant to compromise the wildness of the areas by
permanent surfacing of paths and this response would be expensive. In ‘gated’ national
parks in the USA the problem can be addressed through issuing path permits and
restricting numbers, but in Britain where there are multiple access points to parks and
policies of unrestricted access in open access areas, the issue is addressed physically and
through providing good practice advice to walkers.
3.53 There are major benefits to access provision in national parks. Recreational walking is
one of the key reasons that people visit national parks and there is a considerable
economic benefit. There are also benefits in distributing tourist income through a
national park area to places which would naturally receive fewer visits because of their
isolation. Walking and cycling routes can be designed to link services and encourage
custom for local shops, restaurants and farm B&Bs.
3.54 A US National Park Service study showed that walking or hiking a few times a week
can improve health and can lower healthcare costs. The study compared regular
exercisers with sedentary people and identified that the exercisers filed 14% fewer
healthcare claims, spent 30% fewer days in hospital and had 41% fewer serious claims
(over $5000 dollars). A recent study in the UK for the Countryside Recreation
Network57 found beneficial effects of countryside recreation and from viewing pleasant
landscapes, which included significant improvements in mood, self-esteem, blood
pressure, and higher calorie use contributing to lower levels of obesity.
57 Pretty et al 2005 A Countryside for Health and Wellbeing: The Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Green Exercise
3.55 The provision of access and recreation in national parks is subject to the ‘Sandford
principle’ in the rest of the UK. This states that the enjoyment ‘shall be in a manner and
by such means as will leave their natural beauty unimpaired for the future of this and
future generations’ and that where it is not possible to prevent excessive or unsuitable
use by management, the first purpose of the national park (conservation of the natural
and built heritage) should prevail.
3.56 For this reason significant efforts have been made by national park authorities to guide
visitors towards sustainable use. Specific codes of practice have been developed for
example for mountain biking in Snowdonia NP including spatial and temporal zoning
arrangements. The Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers has developed a code of
practice for charity fundraising events taking place in areas such as national parks. US
National Parks have adopted and enforced a ‘Leave No Trace’ approach, which
promotes minimum impact recreation. This is particularly the case in extensive
wilderness park areas, where permits are often required for backcountry trips and where
enjoyment requires camping for several nights. Most national parks have codes of
practice aimed at sustainable recreational use.
Case Study 18 – US National Parks

LEAVE NO TRACE – DENALI NATIONAL PARK, ALASKA
Denali National Park in Alaska is an extensive, fragile environment, with a short
growing season and survival conditions for its wildlife. The goal of national park
management is to minimise human impacts. Visitors are asked to adopt low-impact
camping and activity practices. The park uses the ‘Leave No Trace’ principles to
advise its visitors. These are widespread principles used throughout North America.
The guidelines ask visitors to:
Plan ahead and prepare, - including knowing the regulations, plan to visit outside
peak times, travel in small groups, repackage food to minimise waste, navigate
without leaving cairns, etc.
Travel and camp on durable surfaces - including using surfaced trails, rock and
gravel, camping away from water, walking single file in mid-trail, and keeping
campsites small and avoiding areas where impacts are beginning
Dispose of waste properly – use bear-resistant containers, pack out everything
packed in, dispose of human waste properly and pack out toilet paper and hygiene
products, wash dishes away from water and use biodegradable soap
Leave what you find - don’t touch cultural and historic structures and artefacts and
avoid introducing or transporting non-native species
Minimize campfire impacts - use camping stoves where possible
Respect wildlife – observe from a distance, never feed wildlife, leave pets at home,
avoid wildlife at sensitive times, e.g. mating
Be considerate of other visitors - respect and courtesy for other visitors and let
nature’s sounds prevail.
3.57 Whilst the main vectors for the introduction of alien and invasive species in national
parks have been industries, such as shipping, horticulture and aquaculture; recreational
use can introduce and spread invasive species within an area. Canoeing, fishing and
boating in particular can inadvertently spread species from water body to another. One
example is Bassenthwaite Lake in the Lake District where New Zealand Pigmyweed is
threatening the natural balance of species. This issue does not only affect national parks,
marine Special Areas of Conservation are particularly under threat from invasive such
as the sea squirt (Didemnum sp) and several species of invasive seaweed. An increasing
part of environmental agency budgets in the UK is now been spent on the control of
invasive species. The introduction of invasive species by ‘hitchhiking’ on recreational
boat hulls is likely to affect any marine national park designated in Scotland.
IMPACTS ON NATURE CONSERVATION INTEREST
3.58 The first purpose of all national parks across the world is the protection of the landscape
and its nature conservation interest. It is this attribute that usually leads to the choice of
the area for designation. National parks in England spend around one-third of their
budgets on this activity (more where Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) payments
are not in place for farmers – e.g. Northumberland National Park)
3.59 Designation as a national park brings a greater local focus, involvement and priority to
managing and enhancing nature conservation. Normally the role of national agencies
and charities, nature conservation is brought into the park authority boardrooms and into
the awareness of a wider range of local people by national park designation.
3.60 National park authorities also raise additional monies for nature conservation projects,
e.g. moorland restoration on Exmoor and in the Cairngorms, and may fund others to
undertake conservation projects within park boundaries.
3.61 The conservation interests in national parks are protected across Europe, to an extent, by
agri-environment schemes, with many national parks being within or overlapping ESAs
for farming, and being eligible for schemes which include maintaining hay meadows
and alpine pastures, hedgerow and boundary management, extensive grazing and low
impact farming methods. In Great Britain, national park authorities work closely with
Government to ensure that schemes meet the needs of the national park and there are
special national park schemes that provide top-up or complementary funding to achieve
park aims.
3.62 Managing the impact of visitors on nature conservation interests is an expensive

undertaking for national park authorities and, visitor expenditures normally go directly
to tourism businesses with few means of channelling such expenditures towards visitor
management. In Britain’s national parks there are no charges for entry, although charges
may be made for parking and other services. In ‘gated’ national parks (e.g. in the USA
and Canada), where a charge is levied, part of the entry fee goes to nature conservation
activity.
3.63 The Peak District National Park Authority has estimated that, if each visitor donated 50
pence towards conservation in the park, some £10.5 million per year would be raised.
Some national park areas have developed visitor payback schemes. In the Lake District
National Park, for example, The Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership
was set up in 1993 as a non-profit making organisation. The organisation brings

together tourism businesses, conservation groups and visitors to raise funds to enhance
the natural beauty of the Lake District. In the first ten years, £325,000 was raised from
voluntary contributions from visitors to accommodation and services in the area.
Money is raised through voluntary contributions during payment of the bill at
participating accommodation providers in the Lake District. Participants include self-
catering providers and locally and nationally owned hotels, which often make a
contribution alongside that of their guests. Such schemes enable visitors to contribute
directly to conservation projects and businesses to demonstrate their ‘green’ credentials
and commitment to the area.
3.64 It has become normal practise for walking holiday providers to ask for voluntary
donations from their guests towards path work and conservation projects. Some of these
donations are routed via national park authorities and park-related conservation
schemes.
3.65 National parks suffer from visitor and development pressures, including increasing hard
standing for cars, extending ski resorts and constructing new visitor accommodation -
including wilderness accommodation, more traffic ingress to wilder parts of parks, more
second homes and longer seasonal activities. As a result some national parks are
considered by some to be under threat, and certainly to present an area where natural
values have been compromised by visitor pressures.
IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURE
3.66 In most European national parks, changes in the conditions for agriculture over the past
30 years have been profound. In the 1950s and 1960s, when the majority of the British
designations took place, the main practices of agriculture and forestry were in accord
with national park aims. Since then agricultural policy across Europe has focussed on
increasing production and developing more intensive farming methods. Farm
production has been supported for a significant period by subsidies focussing mainly on
beef and sheep headage payments, and this has led to issues between farming and the
aims of national park designations. Examples include increases in sheep numbers in the
uplands particularly during the 1980s, the removal of field boundaries to assist more
intensive production, and the reseeding of pastures.
3.67 Across Europe, farms in the typical national park landscapes (e.g. wetlands, uplands)
tend to be marginal and remote from markets, and therefore are at an economic
disadvantage in a market with shrinking margins. Agri-environment payments and less
favoured area (LFA) payments have assisted in retaining agricultural activity in national
park areas, and in retaining the landscapes, rural skills, language and culture that strong
farming communities represent.
3.68 The effects of the post-2005 CAP farm subsidies on the relationship between agriculture
and national parks are, as yet, unknown. These single farm payments decouple subsidies
from production and thereby remove the incentive for high stocking levels, with farmers
becoming more likely to follow market signals in their decisions on what to produce.
Under the CAP reforms there has been a transfer of money towards rural development
and agri-environment measures. In order to qualify for payments farmers must also
adopt good land management, environmental and animal welfare practices. Other
relevant changes affecting farming have included new restrictions under the Nitrates
Directive, Water Framework Directive and disease control and animal traceability
measures.
3.69 The main way in which national parks have benefited farming is through special agri-
environment top-up schemes. In England and Wales a scheme of agri-environment grant
aid in national parks58 was agreed with the EU in 2003 to run for an initial period of 5
years. The total budget for the scheme between the national parks is £22.3 million. The
objective is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and heritage of the
national parks and promote understanding of their qualities. The scheme is only
available to individuals and businesses within the parks’ boundaries. The aim of the
measure is to provide support to promote:
• ways of using agricultural land which are compatible with the protection and
improvement of the environment, the landscape and its features, natural
resources, the soil and genetic diversity;
• an environmentally-favourable extensification of farming and management
of low-intensity pasture systems;
• the conservation of high nature-value farmed environments which are under
threat;
• the upkeep of the landscape and historical features on agricultural land, and
• the use of environmental planning in farming practice.
3.70 The support is provided on annual basis, with payments calculated on the basis of
income foregone, plus additional costs and non-remunerative capital works arising from
the commitments. Farmers enter into five year contracts that may be extended to 10
years, and which contain binding conditions. Whilst the additional income is welcome
and has been instrumental in retaining farming activity in marginal areas, the
conditions, and in particular the lack of freedom to make all of the decisions about how
the farm will operate, have been onerous to some farmers. This situation is not
particular to national parks.
Case study 19 – National Parks in Wales
58 State aid / United Kingdom (England and Wales) Aid No N 380/03 Environmental Enhancement through Agriculture, National Parks (England and Wales)
Scheme
RHAGLEN TIR ERYRI – AGRI-ENVIRONMENT SCHEME FOR SNOWDONIA

NATIONAL PARK
Rhaglen Tir Eryri is a programme developed and funded by Snowdonia National Park
Authority and the Countryside Council for Wales, which is worth £4.35 million over 4
years. Financial support for the programme is being provided until 2007 through EU
Objective 1 Measure 5.7: Sustainable Countryside.
The programme offers assistance to land managers within Snowdonia National Park
for improvements to the area’s landscape, biodiversity, access and heritage. It
reflects local management needs and particularly the needs to meet the obligations of
the area in relation to national and international conservation designations. The
programme also supports the achievement of natural environment elements of the
national park plan.
The types of projects supported through the schemes include habitat and species
management, maintenance of traditional buildings and boundaries, linear access and
management of commons. The scheme is open to any land manager in the area,
even if already enrolled in other agri-environment schemes.
Rhaglen Tir Eryri has specific targets which include; for example, amounts of land
under sustainable management, km of boundaries under positive management, km of
access paths and jobs in new projects. Farmers can receive assistance of up to 70%
of costs. During 2004/5 over 300 contacts for capital works were let under the
scheme on 250 holdings across the area representing the equivalent of 24 man years
of work.
The scheme is guided by an advisory panel including representatives from NFU
(Wales), the Farmers Union of Wales and representatives of environmental agencies
and recreation groups. Rhaglen Tir Eryri works in partnership with other initiatives and
helps to deliver biodiversity action plans, catchment sensitive farming initiatives,
sustainable transport and built heritage conservation agendas.
Advantages and rationale for the involvement of the national park authority in such a
scheme include: capacity and motivation to initiate a local delivery mechanism that is
responsive to the needs of the customer; prescriptions geared to the needs of the
national park area, access to a focussed multi-disciplinary, national park team based
in the area and with experience across the range of access, nature conservation, land
management, built and cultural heritage
3.71 Relationships between national park management authorities and agricultural

communities vary from area to area. Recent reviews of the national park authorities in
England and Wales have recorded the unpopularity of some NPAs amongst the host
rural communities.
3.72 This was apparent to the Mourne farmers59 in their study visit to the Cairngorms and
Snowdonia. They heard both from farmers who had benefited from being in national
park areas and those who had not. Some farmers expressed concerns about public access
and the assumption by visitors that they had greater rights of access than was really the
case, and who reported the difficulties they considered young people had in securing
59 Mourne Farmers 2004 STUDY VISIT TO THE NATIONAL PARKS SNOWDONIA, WALES ANDCAIRNGORMS, SCOTLAND available from www.mournelive.com
local employment and obtaining local housing at affordable prices, and losses in rural
services. These issues are all borne out in research, but some are issues not exclusively
experienced in national parks and reflect recent trends in the economy of rural areas.
Farmers in Snowdonia had heard of some of the positive measures national parks could
introduce, such as the development of produce cooperatives in national parks in Austria
and saw this kind of intervention as beneficial there. They were unsure however of how
effective such schemes would be in Wales and felt that the culture and ways of working
were too different.
3.73 The Mourne Farmers also heard that farmers in Scotland had been broadly supportive of
national park designation. During the consultation process in Scotland Scottish farmers
asked Government to include the following in the activities of national park authorities
• To provide improved incentives for traditional farming methods and

environmental practices;
• To ensure improved education for local inhabitants and tourists on the role
of farming and the environment;
• To take a role in encouraging and supporting young farmers to boost the
future in farming;
• To initiate a special marketing programme for local produce;
• To promote sustainable rural development, as well as nature conservation
and recreation within a park;
• To encourage the renovation of traditional buildings for farm use and for
tourism;
• To encourage the dispersal of tourism on to farms rather than just to ‘honey-
pot’ centres;
• To promise a 10-year re-assessment of the Park, and opt-out arrangement as
a safeguard against major, unforeseen problems;
• The provision of adequate ring-fenced funding prior to Park designation;
• A need for elected local representatives within the Park Board;
• A culture of encouragement and incentives rather than restriction and
regulation should be central to Park policy;
• The recognition that farming has long been the sculptor and keeper of the
environment, and
• A desire that farmers would be involved actively in the formulation of the
proposed National Park.
3.74 Some national park authorities have introduced local produce schemes with the joint
aims of securing premium prices, supporting rare breeds, or traditional activities on the
land, and providing local farmers with marketing support. The national park brand is a
valuable asset to these schemes and in some national parks is available for use by
businesses that can prove that their product meets high standards of quality and
environmental sustainability. In the Cairngorms National Park around 40 businesses had
been approved to use the brand by 2006.
Case Study 20 – Lake District National Park

FRIENDS OF THE LAKE DISTRICT – ‘LAKELAND HERDWICK DIRECT’ – MAIL
ORDER MEAT SCHEME
In the Lake District National Park, Friends of the Lake District have developed and
implemented a joint initiative with the National Trust, the Herdwick Breeders
Association and the Park Authority called Lakeland Herdwick Direct. This is a mail
order meat scheme that allows customers to order half or whole Herdwick lambs. The
farmer receives a premium for his animal as an incentive to maintain Herdwick flocks,
which have an important role in the maintenance of the landscape and cultural
heritage of the Lake District. The scheme allows the ordering of meat from a butcher
and small slaughterhouse.
The National Trust has featured Lakeland Herdwick Direct as the main focus of their
stands at the Royal Show and the Tatton Park Royal Horticultural Show. Lakeland
Herdwick Direct is also promoted to the 7,000 Friends of the Lake District as a way of
applying their consumer power to benefit the landscape and sustain one of the Lake
District’s traditional breeds while enjoying fine meat. All of the Herdwick producers are
in agri-environment schemes
Such schemes are not exclusive to national parks – for example Bowland Forest
Foods is a cooperative marketing and distribution arrangement attracting a premium
for beef, lamb and pork produced by farmers in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire.
This scheme has a number of direct customers including hotels in the area which are
keen to serve local produce. The Kendal Rough Fell scheme similarly attracts a
premium of around 15% for its suppliers.
3.75 Farmers in some countries (e.g. Austria) are an integral part of national park land
provision and management, through binding long term contracts and compensatory
payments for retaining the grazing and agricultural activities which maintain the alpine
meadows for example, where these are not economic. Farmers in Austria are also
assisted to develop agri-tourism and an estimated 10% are involved in this activity. The
Cairngorms National Park Authority is intending to enter into land management
contracts with landowners to ensure delivery of the environmental services they have
traditionally provided in grazing hill country.
IMPACTS ON TRAFFIC
3.76 National park areas are usually attractive to visitors before designation, and in England
Wales and Scotland their attractions to visitors was part of the rationale for designation,
i.e. to enable visits and to ensure that appropriate visitor management arrangements are
in place. However the designation of a national park often has the effect of attracting
more visitors to an area through raising its profile and sending a signal to local and
overseas visitors that it is amongst the best landscapes in the country. Given the location
of the national parks, the distribution of holidays and current public transport systems,
over 80% of visitors arrive by car, normally within the months of May to October and
on good weather weekends and public holidays outside this period. Based on the
experience of Sweden’s Fulufjället National Park (see Case study 17), the main increase
in visitors may predominantly be people seeking easy access to particular natural
attractions, rather than visits requiring skills in particular outdoor sports. One of the
factors in the increase in visitors to that park appears to be an increase in formal tours
and packages being attracted to the area.
3.77 The roads in national parks are an inextricable part of their landscape character, and
traditional roadside features such as hedges, walls, wells, gateposts, etc. may have been
retained through safeguards within a national park plan. Such road systems have a
finite capacity and can become seriously congested and inconvenience visitors and local
alike. It is a source of great frustration to people living in national parks when they are
unable to park in their local villages, access shops and services, or their workplaces, due
to national park traffic issues. It is also a matter of concern to tour operators and to
visitors if journey times are extended by traffic queues, or they are unable to park near
the feature they want to visit.
3.78 The impact on an area chosen for national park designation will vary according to how
existing traffic pressures, routes and means of transport used by visitors and their
desired destinations. Most national parks have honey pot areas which most visitors want
to visit –such as Loch Lomond in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park,
Windermere and Ambleside in the Lake District National Park, Pen y Pass and
Snowdon in Snowdonia National Park, the Njupeskär waterfall in Fulufjället National
Park in Sweden and the famous Kröller-Müller Museum in De Hoge Veluwe National
Park in the Netherlands.
3.79 In the Lake District National Park, vehicle numbers have more than doubled since
1981, but this is consistent with increases in traffic within the country as a whole. The
congestion occurs partly because of the number of visitors, but also because the roads in
national parks are considered to be part of the character. Realignments, widening, relief
roads and major increases in parking are less likely to be acceptable traffic management
measures in national parks, than in other areas with similar pressures. For this reason
most national park areas have developed traffic management plans and the National
Park Officers group has developed an accord with the County Surveyor Society
agreeing the following principles:
• Transport planning for the national parks should be undertaken strategically;

• Transport to, within and across the national parks should be integrated;
• National park authorities and local transport authorities should work in
partnership through transport planning and implementation processes and
liaison between NPAs, Leas and other authorities and agencies involved in
transport issues in national parks should be improved;
• There should be a jointly agreed local transport strategy for each national
park;
• Traffic management measures in national parks should make the best use of
the road network, through the development and implementation of a local
road hierarchy;
• Transport services, infrastructure and traffic management measures should
be designed and maintained so as to harmonise as far as possible with
national park environments;
• Public transport should be actively developed and promoted;

• Non-motorised modes of transport should be actively developed and
promoted;
• A parking strategy should be developed for each national park, covering
both visitor and resident parking issues, and
• The resources allocated to transport issues in national park should reflect the
parks’ national importance.
3.80 Implementing traffic management plans and working in partnership with others to
achieve them are now a day-to-day activity of NPAs. Budgets are small, however e.g.
Exmoor NPA asked Government (DETR) for an additional £63,000 for 2001-2004 to
implement its proposals and lever new activity from other transport bodies in its area.
The success of transport plans is not evident yet although monitoring in the Lake
District would suggest that the rate of traffic growth has slowed.60
Case study 21
TRAFFIC ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT IN THE LAKE DISTRICT NATIONAL
PARK
When the Lake District National Park (LDNP) was designated in 1951, walkers,
cyclists, riders and students of nature were expected to be the main users rather than
motorists. Now most (89%) of the Park’s 12 million visitors each year arrive and travel
through at least part of the area by car. The Lake District National Park Authority
(LDNPA) has installed traffic counters around the park to help understand traffic
movements and to record the scale of the increases. The average number of vehicles
per day for example rose at a counter in Ambleside on the A591 from 9,600 in 1981
to 14,700 in 199961 and is now over 19,000. Ambleside is an attractive small town
with narrow streets and is a popular stopping place for coaches and visitors to the
area.
The LDNPA and its partners have undertaken a number of traffic management
projects including restricted parking zones, area action plans, providing alternatives to
the car, and initiating a ‘gateway’ scheme where the visitor arrives at the boundary of
the LDNP by car but proceeds further by public transport. Traffic has continued to
increase (though the rate of growth has slowed) and the seasonality of the traffic
issue has reduced with traffic congestion experienced throughout the months of April
to October and on many winter weekends.
Buses are seen as one of the major solutions to the issue of getting people around
the national park, but new and restored rail links are also being explored.
Issues for local communities with increasing traffic levels include noise, pollution,
reduced road safety and hazards to vulnerable road users, inconvenience in
accessing work, leisure and services, parking problems, and visual intrusions.
60 This may have occurred for other reasons than the traffic management plan – e.g. decisions not to visit due to the congestion experienced or through word of mouth
accounts of the traffic congestion.
61 To set this in context the daily average no of vehicles for the A1/N1 road between Newry and Dundalk was just over 20,000 in 2004
Issues for visitors in congestion in the LDNP include visual impacts, noise,
inconvenience when trying to reach destinations in the park, and pollution.
3.81 Traffic in many wilderness-type national parks with few road entry points tends to be
managed partly through levying a charge at the entry point. This mechanism deters
some visitors and also enables park management to provide information on byelaws and
acceptable conduct directly to visitors in vehicles. Traffic management plans may also
include limits on car, boat or aircraft use to access certain parts of the national park (e.g.
Fjordland National Park in New Zealand62), whilst other schemes may limit the number
of parties in an area at one time, may restrict personal transport use and require visitors
to access the park via shuttle buses or other public transportation (e.g. Denali National
Park63). The reasons behind this type of intervention include limiting impacts such as
pollution, the visual impact of car parking, to protect wildlife, or to retain the
characteristics of landscape or wilderness experience that people come to the parks to
seek.
3.82 Options for managing traffic use of busy national parks in Britain are limited and
mainly of a voluntary nature. Initiatives have included ‘rambler buses’, park and ride
schemes, car park charging regimes, and encouraging days out by public transport.
Some AONBs and other rural areas have also introduced ‘quiet lanes’ as part of an
initiative by the Countryside Agency, to stem the increase of traffic on rural roads and
provide priority for vulnerable users such as walkers, cyclists and horse riders. More
than 300 ‘quiet lanes’ have been created with community support and agreement,
which have led to increased recreational use, slowing of traffic and reduction of traffic
as drivers choose alternative routes. These are particularly useful when parts of walking
trails need to use sections of minor roads.
INFLUENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
3.83 National park authorities and other protected area management bodies are increasingly
being seen as part of a countrywide approach to sustainable development. Most
management authorities for designated areas in Europe and across the world have
worked with the tourism industry to ensure that the impacts of development on
protected areas are minimised.
3.84 The Europarc Federation, a network for protected areas in Europe, has produced a
Sustainable Tourism Charter, awarded to the management authorities for protected areas
that can demonstrate that they meet the 12 key principles of the scheme64. In future the
62 Fjordland National Park Traffic Management Plan

63 In Denali National Park in Alaska, visitors must use park shuttle buses to access the area. A lottery system allows 400 people to use their cars on one day in the
Park each September.
64 www.europarcs.org
charter will include participation by local businesses, which will be able to achieve and
display the Charter if their standards are sufficiently high. The Mourne AONB was the
first protected area in the UK to achieve the award in 2003. To date, the Cairngorms
National Park is the only national park in the UK to have achieved the charter, but the
Broads Authority, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and Brecon Beacons National Park
Authorities are working towards it, and are expected to achieve the Charter within 2006
or 2007.
Case study 22 – AONBs in Northern Ireland

AONBS IN NORTHERN IRELAND - GREENING THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
In August 2003, the Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in County Down,
Northern Ireland, became the first area in the British Isles to be awarded the
European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas.
Since being awarded the European Charter, the Mourne Heritage Trust - the
partnership management body for the AONB, together with Ring of Gullion AONB and
Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, have had increasing involvement with the
tourism private sector. Assisted through Natural Resource Rural Tourism Initiative
funds (part of the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation) these bodies have
supported businesses through a Green Tourism Scheme and a set of study visits to
centres of excellence for sustainable tourism. Their efforts culminated in the launch
of a sustainable tourism manual and a series of private sector forum meetings in
2005.
A Pilot Green Tourism Scheme has been established in Northern Ireland, based on
similar criteria to the European Eco-label. The scheme encourages businesses to
consider the environmental impacts of their operations. The Northern Ireland Tourist
Board is now considering whether to roll-out the programme across Northern Ireland.
3.85 Sustainable development initiatives in national parks also include sustainable forestry,
working with mineral extraction companies on good conservation practice, and
developing new non polluting industries within national parks.
Case study 23 – Peak District National Park

PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK POLICIES ON MINERAL EXTRACTION
Many of the quarries and mines in the Peak District were operating before the area
became a National Park. The National Park boundary was drawn so that it excluded
many of the main limestone quarries in the Buxton area. Policies on mineral
extraction are decided by the Planning Authority for the Park, in liaison with local and
national government organisations.
The Park Authority also keeps in touch with bodies such as the District Councils’
Environmental Health Authorities, the Environment Agency, the Air Pollution
Inspectorate and the Mines and Quarries Inspectorate, who have responsibility for
such matters as noise nuisance, water and dust pollution and safety within quarries.
The Peak District NPA considers that although quarries and mines spoil the
landscape and may pollute the land and the air, some of the minerals cannot be
found easily in other areas, and the industry is important to both the local economy
(providing jobs for local residents) and the national economy.
For these reasons the PDNPA asks 4 main questions in judging any proposals for
new mines or quarries or for extensions to existing ones:-
- Is there a real need for the product, either locally or nationally, or could another
product be used instead? e.g. stone other than limestone can be used for roads.
- Is there another source for the material that would be a practical alternative? e.g.
limestone can be found in other parts of the country that are not in national parks.
- What will be the effect on traffic? Will even more heavy lorries be using
overcrowded roads? e.g. Moving stone by railway may be a possible alternative.
- How far will the local residents, landscape and environment be affected? The Park
Authority now insists that landscaping schemes and restoration work must be
agreed as part of any new proposal.
The PDNPA has refused applications where there was an alternative source outside
the park, where villages would be unacceptably affected by traffic, and where dust
impacts would have affected the features of an SSSI65 (e.g. Topley Pike Quarry in
1985). The authority has permitted applications where there was a local and national
need for the product and where local sustainable jobs would be created (e.g. Milldam
Fluorspar Mine 1987)
The PDNPA encourages or require restoration of former quarry sites to a nature
conservation or recreation purpose.
3.86 In 1998, the Quarry Products Association, the national representative body for the
industry, developed a four point plan for the industry within national parks. Under the
plan QPA members will:
1. Work with the Government and national park authorities to identify dormant
planning permissions in national parks which will not be reactivated and respond
positively to initiatives by appropriate authorities to seek prohibition orders. This
goes further than the present statutory position that they should not be reopened
without the imposition of modern planning conditions.
2. Work with national park authorities to identify and clarify current permissions
which are uncertain in scope or extent. Every effort will be made to resolve any
areas of uncertainty without recourse to the courts.
3. Not submit any planning application for new mineral workings in a national park
unless there is a national need in terms of minerals supply or where the proposal
has benefits for the national park in question.
4. Only propose the extension of existing sites in national parks where there is a
national need in terms of minerals supply; or the proposal has benefits for the
environment, landscape and economic well-being of the national park in question
3.87 The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Plan contains actions on
sustainability and land use. The park authority has engaged with landowners, including
65 Site of Special Scientific Interest ( England and Wales equivalent of an Area of Special Scientific Interest ( ASSI)
the Forestry Commission, to enhance biodiversity as part of timber production and to

encourage use of locally grown timber as a building material within the park to reduce
the need for further mineral extraction.
IMPACTS OF PLANNING
3.88 National park planning policies in England and Wales are guided by DoE Circular
12/96 (Environment Act 1995, Part III National Parks) which sets out policy and is a
material planning consideration. Its main points relevant to planning issues are:
• National park designation confers the highest status of landscape protection;

• National parks should be models for sustainable development in the
countryside, and
• Major developments should not take place in the parks save in exceptional
circumstances.
3.89 This last guidance is also reflected in PPG766 which identifies that such proposals
should be subject to the ‘major developments test’ involving assessment of:
• The need for the development in terms of national considerations, and the
impact of permitting it or refusing it on the local economy;
• The cost and scope for developing it elsewhere outside the area or meeting
the need for it in some other way;
• Any detrimental effect on the environment or the landscape and the extent to
which that should be moderated, and
• Any construction or restoration should be carried out to high environmental
standards.
3.90 Stricter planning regimes in national parks are agreed to have imposed higher costs for
developers67 (e.g. acquiring land, higher design quality, underground electricity and
telephone cables) and for the local economy68 in terms of ‘opportunity costs’ (e.g. loss
of potential inward investment, preventing minerals exploitation, wind energy
installations etc). Advantages have mainly been in respect of the primary national park
purpose - retaining the natural built and cultural heritage of the landscape, and its
attractiveness to live in and visit.
3.91 The national park authorities have identified the major planning issues as:
66 Planning policy guidance note

67 But note also positive impacts on estate agents.
68 In House Consultancy 2004 National Parks: Evaluation of Planning Policies
• Maintaining adequate social housing and resisting increases in the

proportions of vacant, second and holiday homes in national park areas;
• Minerals planning, where there a high levels of permitted reserves;
• Renewable energy developments within and on the fringes of the national
parks and potential conflicts between Government policies on national parks
and policies on ‘renewables’, and
• Telecommunications applications within and visible from the national park
areas.
3.92 The National Park Review for England and Wales carried out during 2004 identified
that planning decisions are less likely to be delegated to professional planning staff in
national parks than in the remainder of the countryside. Outside national parks 90% of
planning authority decisions are left to professional planners based on a set of agreed
policies. In national parks, board members take a greater interest and involvement in
individual planning decisions.
3.93 The impact of national park planning policies is also experienced in their hinterlands,
both as an advantage, in terms of spending by visitors in the wider area and as a
disadvantage in focussing development pressure around the fringes of the park. This is
most prevalent in the North American national parks where the parks are accessed
through toll gates and there is associated gateway town development. For example,
Canmore acts as a gateway town for Banff National Park in Canada, is located just
outside the park boundary and experienced high population growth from 6,621 residents
in 1993 to 11,442 in 2005. Whilst resident population growth has levelled, non-
permanent resident growth was 16.3% between 1993 and 2001 and is currently at 19%.
The non-resident population is now around one-third of the permanent population
number. The economy is fuelled by the tourism industry and by associated construction
activity.
Case study 24 – National Parks in England Wales and Scotland

PLANNING POWERS
Long-standing experience of the exercise of planning functions in national parks in

England and Wales led the National Park Review Committee69 (Edwards Committee)
in 1991 to recommend that all national park authorities should be independent local
planning authorities, with the full range of planning powers, including development
plan, development control and conservation (e.g. tree preservation, conservation
area, listed building conservation) functions. In responding to the Review Committee’s
Report, ‘Fit for the Future – A statement by the Government on policies for the
National Parks’70 recognised that ‘The planning system has a key role to play in
enabling the National Park authorities to fulfil their statutory duties to conserve the
natural beauty of the parks and promote their enjoyment by the public. The
importance of careful and sensitive planning in the Parks is acknowledged by both
special policies and specific controls’. In particular, the Government’s response
emphasised that ‘National Park Authorities should be responsible for all aspects of
the development control process, and it made provisions in the Environment Act 1995
to achieve this.
In considering the establishment of national parks in Scotland, opinion on planning
responsibilities was split. The Scottish Parliament’s Transport and the Environment
Committee, environmental NGOs and professional planning organisations clearly
recommended that planning functions should not be split, but Scottish Natural
Heritage and local authorities generally advocated a flexible approach, with decisions
on planning being left to the Designations Order for each park. The experience from
South of the Border was eschewed in favour of this flexible approach in the National
Parks (Scotland) Act. Hence, the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Authority has full planning powers, but the Cairngorms National Park Authority has
development planning powers, but only call-in powers in respect of proposed
development. In many respects, dealing with development decisions in this way is a
cumbersome and time-consuming process and where park authorities are statutory
consultees, rather then full planning authorities, their role is seen as primarily of that
of an objector to high profile development proposals; whereas where they have wider
development control functions they may be seen as influencing standards of
development and seeking to ensure the right development in the right place.
THE VALUE OF NATIONAL PARKS
3.94 The content of this section has addressed the impacts of national parks, with some
information relevant to their value. However, a full valuation of national parks also
needs to take into account the effects and attitudes of those who use them and directly
benefit from them, their value as a legacy to subsequent generations, their value to
people who are simply content to know that such areas exist and are protected and cared
for their biodiversity and ecosystem values.
3.95 A considerable body of research exists in this area which is more useful in deciding
whether investment in national parks will create an overall public benefit in the
69 Edwards Committee Inquiry 1991 - Fit for the Future: Report of the National Park Review Panel, Countryside Commission, January 1991
70 Dept. of the Environment & Welsh Office - ‘Fit for the Future – A statement by the Government on policies for the National Parks’, 1992
medium- and long-term, rather than in helping individuals and organisations decide
whether they will individually benefit from a national park in their area.
3.96 A number of different techniques may be used to value national parks. Some are based
on market mechanisms – i.e. calculating the sum of the value of all of the attributes of a
national park for which market prices are available, and some on non-market methods
which employ surveys to create a hypothetical market for the public goods derived from
the national park. Market mechanisms have limitations in that many of the attributes of
a national park are not traded on markets, such as clean air, clean water, scenery,
spiritual renewal and recreational benefits. For this reason the main techniques used for
this type of valuation are the non-market based contingent valuation method and the
travel cost method.71
3.97 Contingent valuation measures the public’s willingness to pay for environmental goods
such as national parks and is based on stated estimates derived from a survey. The
individual being surveyed records his/her willingness to pay for the enjoyment or
benefit derived from the national park and its attributes, whether or not the person is a
visitor or user of the park. Since national parks’ attributes differ between parks (one
may be mountain based, another contain mainly wetlands) valuations are normally
based at an individual park level, although valuation of an overall policy or programme
for a series of national parks could be devised.
3.98 The benefit of contingent valuation is that it can reflect values based on use and non-use
of a national park and identify values for different attributes within the park (e.g.
biodiversity, recreation, cultural and heritage dimensions). Whilst there are criticisms
and limitations to the technique, it remains the most reliable and effective means of
defining the value of national parks and wildlife areas.
3.99 The travel cost method estimates the benefit that people (users) derive from recreation
areas such as national parks. This normally involves a survey of all visitors to determine
how much is paid for access, private and public transport costs, entry fees, and in some
cases the value of the time spent travelling to the area. This gives a full estimate of how
much of their private resources (e.g. £s, time) people are willing to allocate to visiting a
national park. The main difficulty with the travel cost method as a way of estimating the
value of a national park is that it measures only use value and ignores the amount that
non-users are willing to pay (e.g. through taxes) to know that parts of the landscape are
conserved.
3.100 Both methods ignore the existence value of species of flora and fauna which depend
upon national parks for their survival, and the ecosystem value (e.g. forest and bog land
areas acting as ‘carbon sinks’ and removing CO2 from the air; assimilation of water-
71 Elliot, P et al.2001 The valuation of national parks – Analysis, methodology and reliability. IASCP Pacific regional meeting Brisbane
borne pollutants in the case of water bodies) both of which may go beyond the value
which humans place upon them as attributes of the park. These are the focus of much
research and debate which cannot be addressed adequately within this type of study.
3.101 Contingent valuation (CV) studies to value national parks are relatively scarce and tend
to focus on the effectiveness of the research method rather than on the values derived.
Contingent valuation is at its best when used within cost benefit analysis where the
benefits of the intervention (such as designating a national park) are compared with the
costs of the intervention.
3.102 Contingent valuation has been used72 to estimate both users’ and non-users’ willingness
to pay for landscape preservation in the Norfolk Broads, which has equivalent status to
a national park. The payment was to maintain the defences which prevent flooding of
the Broads, which lies largely below sea level. On-site surveys of users derived a mean
annual willingness to pay (WTP) per person of £76.74 at 1991 prices. Those with the
highest WTP values tended to be on day trips and live relatively near to the Broads. In
terms of non- users and the value they placed on preserving the Broads, the mean
willingness to pay was £23.29 per annum. Similar studies have elicited willingness to
pay for landscape conservation measures as follows:
• Norfolk Broads (non-users) £23.29 (1991)

• Norfolk Broads (users) £76.74 (1991)
• Yorkshire Dales National Park73 £24.56 (1993)
• Brazilian Amazonia 5% reserve74 £29.83 ( per household)
• Brazilian Amazonia 20% reserve £39.16 ( per household)
• Mournes and Slieve Croob ESA75 £15 -31 ( per person) ( 1997)
3.103 If required individual attributes of national parks or other recreation or conservation

sites can be valued to assist in targeting investments, such as funds for protection, to
attributes of greatest value. A study on Irish forests76, for example, has shown
recreational visitors’ higher willingness to pay for attributes such as national park
status77, nature conservation areas and broad leaved woodland.
72 Bateman I.J. and Ian H Langford 1996 Non Users Willingness to Pay for a National Park: an Application and Critique of the Contingent Valuation Method
73 Willis K.G. and Garrod, G.D. 1993 Valuing landscape: a contingent valuation approach. Journal of Environmental Management 37, 1-22
74 Horton, B. et al evaluating non-users willingness to pay for the implementation of a proposed national parks programme in Amazonia: a UK/Italian contingent
valuation study
75 Moss, J. E. and Chilton, S. M. (1997). “A Socio-Economic Evaluation of the Mourne Mountains and Slieve Croob Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme”, Centre
for Rural Studies, The Queen’s University of Belfast
76 Scarpa, R. 2000 Valuing the recreational benefits from the creating on nature reserves in Irish forests. Ecological Economics 33 237-250
77 In the Republic of Ireland national parks are large state owned nature reserves which welcome visitors in a managed way.
3.104 Landscape attributes, including wildlife, clean air, and landscape designations, are
determined by people to be of benefit to them. For example, a study in Scotland78
determined that households were willing to pay additional sums of £8.10 per annum on
their electricity bills to achieve no impact on landscapes from renewable energy
installations; £4.24 to reduce impacts on wildlife to a level of no harm; and £14.13 to
ensure that electricity production has no impact on air quality. A further study
established that households in Ireland were willing to pay (via income tax and VAT)
sums of between €174(£120) and €37(£25) per year for effective agri- environment
measures to enhance water quality in rivers and lakes, and to restore upland habitats,
stone walls and traditional buildings in the landscape and hedgerows79.
3.105 Where cost-benefit analysis has been carried out on landscape enhancement or
preventing landscape degradation, the benefits have significantly exceeded the costs, in
the case of the Mournes and Slieve Croob ESA scheme for example by 32:1.
3.106 National parks also provide important ecosystem services such as acting as a protected
habitat for biodiversity; providing aspects of the management of drinking water
resources, and providing climate control through the sequestration of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere. Wetland national parks also provide important flood attenuation
services.
78 Hanley, N. Bergman, A. and Wright, R. 2003 Valuing the attributes of renewable energy investments in Scotland. Scotecon. University of Stirling.
79 Campbell , D. et al; Using choice experiments to value farm landscape improvements. Paper to Agricultural Economic Society Conference 2005
CHAPTER 4 –
POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARK LEGISLATION AND DESIGNATION IN

NORTHERN IRELAND
4.1 The report ‘Special Places Need Special Care’ (Bungay, Clarke et al. 2002) confirmed
that the Mournes AONB80 would meet established criteria for designation as a National
Park. This judgement was based on a comparison of national parks around the world,
and particularly models in Europe. The report also identified that the Ring of Gullion
AONB (particularly if combined with the Mournes), Causeway Coast AONB and
Antrim Coast and Glens AONB would meet the criteria for national park designation.
No similar assessment has formally been carried out for the principal AONBs in the
west and north-west of Northern Ireland, which were not included in the ‘Special Places
Need Special Care’ study brief.
4.2 The Department currently plans only to introduce one national park in Northern Ireland
- largely covering the area of the existing Mourne AONB. A special boundary study
was commissioned to examine proposals for the boundary of the national park and this
will be the subject of public consultation in 2006.
4.3 If other national park designations are introduced, they are most likely to be areas with
existing AONBs or proposed AONBs or in areas with special nature conservation
designations such as wetlands or coastlines. Legislation is expected to make provision
for marine national parks, but there are no current plans for these. There has been no
implied difference in the legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to date
between the landscape quality of an AONB and a national park area. Criteria therefore
depend primarily on other factors.
4.4 The criteria the Department intends to include in the draft Order in Council to enable
the establishment of national parks are81:
1. That the area is extensive and is of outstanding national importance because

of its national heritage or the combination of its natural and cultural heritage;
2. That the area has a distinctive character and a coherent identity;
3. That designating the area as a national park would meet the special needs of
the area and would be the best means of ensuring that national park aims are
collectively achieved in relation to the area in a coordinated way, and
4. That the area offers opportunities for understanding, appreciation, and
enjoyment of the countryside by the public.
80 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

81 Richard Dalzell DOE EPG Pers. Comm.
4.5 The draft legislation may define ‘extensiveness’ in the Northern Ireland context. Recent
work82 for the Countryside Agency (England and Wales) recommends a minimum
definition of ‘extensive’ as 600 km2 with other relevant recommendations including:
• as a guideline, the inclusion of a maximum of 30% of lesser quality land

within the boundary (e.g. intensively cultivated arable land, land where
landscape quality has been compromised);
• at least 25% of open land to be accessible (excluding woodland); and
• a maximum journey time by public transport of 1½ hours from a conurbation
of greater than one million population.
4.6 The National Parks Boundary Study83, currently in draft, assessed detailed boundaries
for the proposed Mourne National Park using these criteria and applying tests that have
been used to select national landscapes in England and Scotland84. Such tests included
quality and intactness of landscape features; scenic quality; rarity; representativeness;
conservation interest and biodiversity; wildness, historic and cultural associations,
tranquillity and identity.
4.7 The accessibility of marine national parks from major conurbations has been included
by Scottish Natural Heritage in its process of considering different areas in Scotland for
designation85. For example, an area of North Uist and Harris, whilst meeting other
criteria, is considered as possibly too remote from the majority of the population in
Scotland for designation.
4.8 A comparison of relative sizes of national park areas with designated areas in Northern
Ireland is set out in the table below.
National Park Area Region in Northern Ireland Area

(England and Wales) (km2) ( km2)
Peak District 1,438 Mourne AONB 570
Snowdonia 2,142 Causeway Coast AONB 420
Dartmoor 956 Ring of Gullion AONB 154
Pembrokeshire Coast 620 Sperrin AONB 1,010
North York Moors 1,436 Strangford Lough AONB and 190 (land area) 150
MNR (water area)
Yorkshire Dales 1,769 Lough Neagh 393 (water area only)
Exmoor 693 Binevenagh (proposed AONB) 141
Northumberland 1,049 National Parks Ireland Area (km2)
Brecon Beacons 1,351 Killarney 103
82 Countryside Agency National Park Designation: A Review Of How The Criteria Are Applied (AP 99/51) Prepared by Richard Partington and Andrew Maliphant with
Terry Robinson, Special Areas Branch
83 Alison Farmer Associates 2005 Draft Mourne National Park Boundary Study
84 The Countryside Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage (2002). Landscape Character Assessment: guidance for England and Scotland
85 http://www.snh.org.uk/strategy/CMNP/sr-adnp01.asp
National Park Area Region in Northern Ireland Area

(England and Wales) (km2) ( km2)
The Broads 303 Glenveagh 165
New Forest 580 Connemara 30
South Downs 1,641 Wicklow 159
National Parks (Scotland) Area (km2) The Burren 17
Cairngorm 3,800 Ballycroy 118
Loch Lomond and the 1,865
Trossachs
4.9 At the time of preparing this report, the consultation process for defining the nature and
scale of national parks in Northern Ireland was still underway, and draft legislation was
being prepared for public consultation. This report and its conclusions about impacts is
based therefore on an informed86 view of what impacts national park designation may
have on Northern Ireland - and in particular on the Mournes - over and above the
policies and programmes already existing and affecting the area and its people.
4.10 The impacts of national park legislation and designation also need to be judged in the
context of the fundamental changes in governance in Northern Ireland that will be
substantially in place before any national park is designated.
4.11 Landscape protection, nature conservation and rural development functions have all
been centralised in Northern Ireland to date, with local authorities having very limited
powers. Local authorities have had a recreation function, but have played a limited role
in the kind of activities that generally take place in national parks and there has been
limited policy development in respect of the types of countryside enjoyment policies
and functions undertaken by Scottish Natural Heritage, the Countryside Council for
Wales and the Countryside Agency in the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland is the only
country within the UK not to have reformed the law in respect of access to the
countryside, to provide rights of access to at least some kinds of open country.
4.12 The scope of local authority responsibilities after 2009 is expected to change to include
a much wider range of functions including:
86
Informed by meetings with DoE Policy Unit, Environment and Heritage Service staff and the minutes of the Mourne Working
Party
Application of building regulations Local arts

Arts and culture Local economic development
Community development Local events
Community planning Local roads
Community relations Local sports
Conservation of natural and built Local tourism
heritage Maintenance of the public realm
Emergency planning Planning
Environmental health Planning local bus services
Environmental services (spot listing Rathlin Ferry
of buildings) Rural development
Fire and rescue Rural transport fund
Fishery harbours Urban and rural regeneration
Future European programmes
Housing related functions
Leisure and recreation (local water
recreation facilities)
4.13 New functions relevant to national park type work in local authorities are therefore
expected to include conservation of natural and cultural heritage, rural development, an
extended economic development role, rural transport, water recreation and development
planning and control.
4.14 Environmental governance is also widely expected to change, as a result of the current
review process, and to become the responsibility of a new environment agency for
Northern Ireland.
THE ADDITIONALITY OF NATIONAL PARK DESIGNATION
4.15 Defining the additionality of national park designation is important in clarifying any
benefits and disadvantages and ensuring that they are correctly attributed to the national
park designation rather than to underlying rural trends, changing markets or other policy
interventions.
4.16 The following changes will almost certainly occur as a direct result of national park
legislation and designation:
• An area or several areas of Northern Ireland will become eligible for

designation as a national park, based on a set of criteria for eligibility;
• A national park authority (NPA), or a number of park authorities, may be
established as new statutory bodies within defined local areas. These bodies
will have a statutory duty to promote the four proposed national park aims in
the area and will have a range of duties and powers to achieve this. Whilst it
is intended that the majority of appointees to these bodies (just over half)
will be local councillors, or will live in, or have specific interests in, the
national park, a proportion will be appointed to represent wider Northern

Ireland or UK interests in the national park;
• National park authorities will be supervised and serviced by the Department,
and this will require a small dedicated unit of staff with appropriate
resources;
• A national park authority will have a duty to prepare a national park plan
setting out ways in which the designation aims may be achieved, and
identifying the role that the national park authority and other bodies will
play;
• A national park authority will be responsible for preparing an area
development plan to guide development and assist in achieving the
designation aims. These area plans will take over from the area plans in
existence prior to designation and will become planning policy in the area;
• It is not proposed that national park authorities will have responsibility for
development control (i.e. deciding on planning applications and planning
conditions). This role is intended, post-2009, to be a local authority
responsibility. The national park authorities may, however, have a role to
play in development control: they will probably be statutory consultees;
• A national park authority will be resourced by Government funds, in
accordance with its duties;
• A national park authority will employ staff to carry out its/their functions.
These staff and the offices of the authority are expected to be based within
the national park, and
• Other statutory bodies will be required by legislation to have due regard to
the aims of the national park designation and to the national park plan in
carrying out their functions within the park area. This may require such
bodies to organise their work differently in the national park area, in terms of
siting, design, environmental standards, provision for recreation, promoting
biodiversity or furtherance of a sustainable local economy through their
actions.
4.17 Based on the experience of national parks elsewhere, the following significant changes
may take place in areas designated as national parks
• The area is likely to achieve a higher profile than other areas amongst
visitors. This could lead to a substantial increase in visitors numbers,
particularly to well known ‘honeypots’ for visitors. Tourism expenditure in
the area is likely to increase as a result, provided that there are services and
opportunities to spend money, including sufficient visitor accommodation.
The profile of visitors may change to include a greater number of people
from overseas and an increase in staying visitors. Some will be new visitors
to Ireland, others may be visitors who planned to come to Ireland anyway,
but who extend their stay to visit a national park, and some will be displaced
visitors who would otherwise have visited another area in Ireland or
Northern Ireland;
• The attractiveness of the area as a place to live is likely to increase as a result

of actions by the national park authority, and this may place an upward
pressure on land and housing prices and values;
• There is likely to be a higher emphasis on nature conservation and
biodiversity activity in a national park area;
• The park area will be more likely to attract recreational visitors and in
particular hill walkers in upland areas. These visitors will have an
expectation that facilities such as country footpaths and access to open
country will be available;
• The area may be more likely to attract coach touring parties, provided that
appropriate facilities are provided;
• Traffic is likely to increase as a result of several of these changes, and there
may be inconvenience to local people at peak times, even where active
traffic management plans are put in place. There will be a higher demand for
car parking, especially in attractive villages and at service points, viewpoints
and natural and built attractions;
• If the primary aims of designation are to be achieved, it is likely that the
national park plan and local development plan will identify areas where there
is a presumption against development and will include strict guidelines on
siting and design. In a national park, it may be more difficult to develop
areas of undeveloped coastline, or employ housing or building design which
is not in sympathy with vernacular style or traditional building materials of
an area. However, the impact of PPS14 Sustainable Development in the
Countryside may have widespread impacts like those experienced in national
parks elsewhere with new draft policies for replacement dwellings, the
integration and design of all new buildings, rural character, ribbon
development, farm diversification, agricultural buildings and development
relying on non-mains sewerage. Within the draft policy there is a strong
presumption against any development within the proposed ‘Special
Countryside Areas’ which will apply to Northern Ireland’s protected
landscapes;
• Whilst road design and improvement is not intended to be a function of the
NPA, and will follow current safety practices and design principles, there
may be a higher requirement to maintain features of local character, to
equalise road rights between cars, pedestrians, riders and cyclists; to resolve
visitor traffic issues, and to maintain and extend protected scenic routes;
• There may be an increase in the provision of visitor reception, orientation
and interpretation facilities for visitors. It is likely that a national park centre
or centres will be developed as a way of orientating visitors to the special
qualities of the area and giving them essential access and management
information, and
• The NPA is likely to seek to build sustainable development principles and
practices into all areas of its work, to encourage others to do so, and to take
forward local programmes to fulfil the aims of the Government’s sustainable
development strategy.
4.18 Other changes in Northern Ireland as a result of national park designation will depend
largely on the outcome of the forthcoming consultations on the legislation and on the
actions and decisions of those who sit on the national park authorities. Some changes
that may come about as a result include:
• Changes to responsibilities for certain aspects of access to the countryside, in

recognition of the greater recreational pressures likely within a national park,
and the need for a national park authority to influence access in order to
achieve national park aims;
• Development of more extensive ranger services to assist both recreational
users and landowners and to provide sustainable visitor management;
• Programmes of enhanced agri-environment grant aid, or ‘top-ups’ from other
funding sources, to promote landscape and habitat enhancement and the
retention of vernacular features in the countryside;
• Programmes to ‘green’ local industry and encourage only ‘clean’ industry to
set up in the national park;
• Traffic management programmes, and a resistance to ‘road improvement’
schemes that reduce landscape character and remove mature hedgerows,
traditional walls, gates and other features;
• Social housing programmes to ensure that upward pressures on house prices
and land prices do not reduce the rented and affordable housing stock for
people who live and work in the area;
• Social inclusion programmes to foster wider enjoyment of the national parks
by people who do not currently visit. Work of this nature elsewhere has
included encouragement of visits by people who are disabled, or are from
less advantaged socio-economic groups or ethnic groups, to events and
programmes in the national parks.
4.19 It is likely that national park authorities will introduce a further range of conservation,
access, sustainable development and rural development initiatives aimed at achieving
the objectives of national park designation. These might include, for example,
sustainable transport strategies, sustainable energy schemes, waste management
schemes, tourism marketing initiatives, local produce marketing schemes, integrated
coastal zone management and countryside skills training schemes. These have been
taken forward by national park authorities elsewhere but they do not require designation
and could be taken forward by any Council or organisation in Northern Ireland. Being a
national park authority provides a slight ‘edge’ in that other statutory bodies may be
more likely to assist and coordinate the delivery of programmes, in part because of the
profile of national parks and their novelty in Northern Ireland and in part because of the
statutory duty imposed on them to have ‘due regard’ to the objectives of the national
park plan. It must be noted however that the current AONB legislation87 already
87 Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Amendment) (NI) Order 1989
imposes a general duty on all public bodies88 exercising any statutory function in
relation to land to have ‘regard to the need to conserve the natural beauty and amenity
of the countryside, and the need to protect (so far as is reasonably practicable) flora,
fauna, geological and physiographical features of the countryside from any harmful
effects which might result from the exercise of such functions’.
ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS
ADMINISTRATION.
4.20 Two major benefits of national park designation normally are: the ability to manage
aspects of a distinctive natural resource area as a single, integrated administrative unit;
and the ability to have the interests of that area as the main focus of the organisation.
The proposed Mourne National Park currently lies within 3 local authority areas with
each part being peripheral to the primary interests of many ratepayers. Local
government reorganisation by 2009 will simplify the administration of most but not all
of Northern Ireland’s natural resource areas as shown in Table 1
Table 1 Local authority changes in relation to natural resource areas in NI by 2009
Natural resource area Current no. of local Expected no. of local

authorities authorities post-2009
Mournes AONB 3 2
Sperrin AONB 5 2
Ring of Gullion AONB 1 1
Causeway Coast AONB 2 1
Antrim Coast and Glens AONB 4 1
Fermanagh (2 proposed AONBs) 1 1
Strangford Lough (MNR & AONB) 2 1
Lough Neagh and Lough Beg 7 5
4.21 In the Mournes, the current AONB will lie in two local authority areas post-2009.
There will be benefits for natural resource management if a single national park
authority becomes responsible for developing a unified planning and management
approach to this area.
AGRICULTURE
4.22 The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and the EU are
expected to remain the strongest influences on farming in the countryside, with national
park authorities becoming involved only in schemes such as supplementary funding to
88 Defined as all government departments, district councils and statutory undertakers and any trustees, commissioners, board or other persons who, as a public body
and not for their own profit, act under any statutory provision for the improvement of any place or the production and supply of any commodity or service.
achieve their particular, local agri-environment or economic objectives. Changes will

take place in agricultural conditions and purposes in an area designated as a national
park, but these will be led by external factors such as the conditions of the single farm
payment, changes in agricultural markets and the decisions of individual farmers.
DARD will be required to have due regard to the objectives of national parks and may
make some changes, but will be largely constrained by EU rules on payments to
farmers. DARD may make representations to Europe for special schemes for national
parks and other protected landscapes, either acting alone or in partnership with the
national park authority - perhaps acting as a delivery agent for funding in a similar way
as Snowdonia National Park Authority’s involvement in delivering the Tir Eryri
Scheme.
4.23 In other areas, NPAs have assisted farmers in developing the skills to play a wider role
in countryside and access management in national parks and have used farmers as
contractors on access, recreation and countryside management projects. In this way the
national park authority can provide employment and contribute towards a full farm
income. However the recreational infrastructure outside public and charitable body
lands is very limited in Northern Ireland and work of this type needs to take place on
lands with permitted access which is relatively scarce.
4.24 No doubt any national park authority in Northern Ireland will take forward a branding
scheme for local produce to assist producers to gain premium prices. This type of
scheme has been recommended in the Mournes since 1994, but obstacles such as the
lack of an area based network body for producers, individualism in farming and the lack
of infrastructure to add value to local products need to be overcome.
4.25 As land and property owners in the national park, farmers will be affected by issues
discussed under the planning and housing sections of this chapter. In particular many
farmers over the past ten years have been able to make up shortfalls in income through
the sale of house sites. Within a national park stronger policies are normally developed
in respect of individual houses in the countryside and in particular zones within the
national park. Issues such as the capacity of waste water treatment plants, particularly
near to recreational waters, and the impacts of multiple septic tanks on watercourses,
influence national park plans. The policy PPS14 (Sustainable Development in the
Countryside) issued for consultation in March 2006, includes a presumption against
new development in the whole of the Northern Ireland countryside with the exception of
a limited number of types of development. In effect, this means the application of green
belt policies not just to existing green belts and countryside policy areas but to all
existing rural remainder areas i.e. to the whole of the Northern Ireland countryside. This
will have a particular impact on proposals for single dwellings and all new applicants
for a single dwelling will be required to establish a ‘need’ to live in the countryside. In
this respect therefore policies on single dwellings may be the same both inside and
outside any new national park in Northern Ireland.
4.26 As one of the four aims of national parks is to promote public enjoyment and active use
of the park area, NPAs are likely to place some weight on securing new access
opportunities. Whilst local authorities are expected to retain their statutory role in
providing access to the countryside, national park authorities may be expected to
influence them towards asserting more public rights of way, providing an enhanced
network of public paths, and to resolving issues of access to open countryside. National
park visitors will have high expectations that they will be able to get out into the
countryside and that areas will be well served by networks of paths and opportunities to
access open country. This is particularly the case with visitors who have experience of
national parks in England, Wales and Scotland, where there are extensive opportunities
to enjoy access to rivers, mountains and moors and on public rights of way and
promoted routes through farmland and on the coast.
4.27 National park authorities cannot responsibly promote access unless there are formal
access rights or agreements and they have powers to manage issues and impacts. This is
an issue for the Mournes and other open upland areas in Northern Ireland where access
is often either disputed or de facto89. Exceptions are access to lands owned by the
National Trust or the Forest Service, although on such lands access is on a permissive
basis. Access and recreation opportunities underpin the success of tourism in national
parks and other rural areas. Since so much of tourism marketing is by word-of-mouth
and personal recommendation; access disputes and encounters between visitors and
unwelcoming landowners must be avoided.
OVERSEAS TOURISM AND VISITOR EXPENDITURE
4.28 A special study90 was commissioned by the Mournes National Park Working Party to
identify the impacts of a national park designation on tourism in the Mournes. The study
has identified that national park designation would bring an increase in visitors and
expenditure to both the proposed national park area and a wider influence area
extending to the full District Council areas of Banbridge, Newry and Mourne and
Down. The current number of tourism visits to the wider area are estimated in the study
at 279,900 with 145,454 to the AONB; and estimates of 2.25 million day visits to the
wider area and 1.28 million to the AONB. Jobs in tourism and hospitality are estimated
at between 800 and 1,200 in the Mourne AONB and between 1,600 and 2,300 in the
AONB and its wider sphere of influence. Estimates of tourism and day visitor
expenditure total some £57-82 million in the wider area of which some £30-43 million
may be spent in the study area.
Area Est. no. of tourism Est. no. of day visits Est. total visits
visits
Mourne AONB 145,454 1,286,000 1.43m
Sphere of influence 279,900 2,254,000 2.53m
89 By custom and practice only with no legal right

90 Buchanan 2006 Tourism in Mourne -Current and Potential Impacts ( draft report)
Area No of direct FTE Indirect jobs Total

tourism jobs supported by tourism
Mourne AONB 600 – 800 200 – 400 800 – 1,200
Sphere of influence 1,100 –1,500 500 – 800 1,600 – 2,300
4.29 In total, the study estimated that the designation would bring an increase in visitors that
would support an additional 800 jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry within the
national park and its sphere of influence by 2020 of which some 500 would be within
the national park area. These estimates depend on the area responding to an increase in
visitors through the provision of new private and public sector tourism services. The
proportion of tourist visits to day visits in the Mournes may change, with an increase in
the number of staying tourist visits. The number of day visits may not change
significantly as people in Northern Ireland are already aware of the attractions of the
Mournes and may not be influenced by national park designation. If a national park
authority is able to encourage initiatives to add value to visits to the Mournes, then the
overall scale of day visits may increase.
4.30 The model developed for the study can be applied to other areas in Northern Ireland to
assess the impact of national park designation in such areas. However experience from
Scotland has identified that visits to, for example, the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
National Park may not have increased significantly, because it was already a well
visited area and included in all of the main tour operator itineraries. It may be the case,
therefore, that a national park that included the Giant’s Causeway would not
significantly increase visits to that area, although it might encourage visits to a wider
range of attractions within the area and increase upland recreational use. National park
designation in less visited areas, such as the Sperrins, could stimulate a significant
increase in visits at least in the short term.
4.31 Overall visitor numbers to Northern Ireland may increase, if a larger proportion of
visitors to Ireland are attracted to cross the border by the national park designation, and
a national park is considered a ‘must see’ destination within Ireland, in the same way as
the international World Heritage Site designation for the Giant’s Causeway draws
visitors north. NITB intends to prioritise the proposed Mourne National Park as a
‘signature project’ for tourism product development and promotion in Northern Ireland.
4.32 Based on the visitor research in the Scottish national parks, significant numbers of
overseas tourists would not be directly attracted to Northern Ireland as a result of
national parks, but rather would be influenced in their choice of destination or tour
within the country (Ireland or Northern Ireland) having already made the decision to
visit.
4.33 A survey of tour operators was carried out to inform this study and the Buchanan study
on tourism in Mourne. The survey was conducted by telephone using a combined list of
38 GB tour operators specialising in walking tours and coach tours; and the Irish Tour
Operators Association contact list of 33 companies. 28 fully completed responses were
obtained (39%), which elicited the following data:
• The majority of operators (21) already organise tours to Northern Ireland,

mostly of a general interest nature. These operators either exclusively or
alongside general tours offer walking (4), bespoke (3), garden (1), horse
riding (1) or religious/history (1) tours either exclusively or alongside
general tours:
• The most popular venue for tours in Northern Ireland is the Causeway Coast
and Glens area (18 operators), followed by Belfast (13) and Derry (9).
Armagh, Downpatrick, the Ulster American Folk Park, Belleek Pottery, etc.
also featured. The Mournes was not mentioned as an area where any of the
operators organise tours;
• Operators were asked the question: ‘If any scenic area in Northern Ireland
was designated as a National Park would this influence your decision to run
tours in the area?’ Just under half (13 operators) responded that the
designation would make it more likely that they would run tours to the area,
or that their customers would be more interested in tours in the area. The
reason was mainly that customers would have a greater awareness of the area
because of its designation. Walking tour operators, some coach tour
operators and operators catering for the Japanese market were most certain
that national park designation would increase interest in such an area;
• Seven further operators felt that designation would possibly (4), or probably
(2), increase the number of tours they ran to such an area or encourage them
to include the area; or would lead to an increase (1) only if a strong
marketing effort was put in place or more facilities were provided as a result
of the designation;
• Those of the opinion that designation would make no difference to their tour
operations (8) thought so mainly because it would not influence their
customers, who already knew where they wanted to go in Ireland, or because
a designation would not change the essential qualities of the area;
• Only seven operators had included other national parks in their itineraries,
with the Lake District being the most visited (7 operators) and the Peak
District, North York Moors, Snowdonia, Loch Lomond, Dartmoor and the
Cotswolds all being included in tours, and
• Operators’ expectation of national parks was consistently based around very
scenic landscapes with strong protection, and the adjective ‘unspoilt’ was
widely used. Coupled with this were the needs for accessible paths with
signs and information, and visitor facilities such as toilets, cafés, gift shops
and coach parks. Other mentions included good interpretation, information,
open space and marketing.
4.34 Some further views expressed through the tour operator survey included:
• National park designation is very important to our (walking) customers.
• Would be a major benefit to my business.

• My American customers believe that the best walking is in national parks.
• Should increase demand from my customers.
• My extensive Japanese market insists on visiting any designated site – they
research the country beforehand and decide on the must see destinations.
• We increasingly sell Ireland as a ‘green’ destination, so a designation like
national park might help.
• Unlikely to influence our existing tours as there are so many places e.g.
Donegal and Killarney which are spectacular and which have no
designations
• Not likely to influence our largely American customers as they already know
what they want to see and do.
4.35 Informal comments by respondents identified the importance of visitor facilities and
area marketing in their decisions on where to run tours. A national park designation
might increase demand from some customers, but tours would be unlikely to be
arranged unless the required infrastructure was in place. Tours tend to be run to sites
where everything is in place for the type of visitor and tend not to return if clients are
disappointed. The extent to which additional visitors are attracted to a national park may
depend therefore on a number of factors:
• How well the area is known before the designation and the extent to which it
already attracts visitors, particularly from abroad;
• How effectively the required infrastructure – walks, car parks, coach parks,
large capacity visitor facilities and additional accommodation and quality
eating and gift opportunities can be put in place, and
• How aware the market is of the designation.
4.36 Given the differences in type and purpose between national parks i.e. most are large
wildernesses managed for nature protection; whilst others - particularly UK national
parks - are smaller scale, inhabited and comprise cultural landscapes; potential for
confusion, misinformed expectations and possibly disappointment may occur amongst
specialist national park visitors. This may not be the case with the GB visitor market, as
their national park model is broadly similar to that proposed in Northern Ireland.
4.37 This issue of expectations can be addressed by accurate information being made
available prior to the visit. The Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust has pioneered
this in Northern Ireland by providing a full French language version of their website
highlighting the features of the area.
IMPACTS ON NATURAL HERITAGE
4.38 The first objective of national parks relates to the protection of natural and cultural
heritage. It is anticipated that both the additional resources of circa £2- £4million core
funding per year for each national park in Northern Ireland and the ability to act on local
needs as a priority will bring benefits to habitat and species conservation. Whilst
conservation work within the national parks will be prioritised towards the agenda in the
NI Biodiversity Strategy and towards fulfilling EU commitments on SPAs and SACs,
local conservation priorities may be pursued more vigorously with a national park
authority in place, than without. Examples might include heather regeneration in the
Mournes, river conservation in the Sperrins, species rich grassland and the corncrake in
Fermanagh, and marine conservation on the north coast and in Strangford Lough.
4.39 AONB management groups and District Councils can already choose to pursue nature
conservation programmes, and some already receive EHS funding support for these.
Most areas have or are developing biodiversity strategies and are taking forward
programmes of action. For example, the regeneration of cut-over bog land in
Fermanagh, and restoration of water quality within limestone caves as part of the
Cuilcagh Mountain Park in Fermanagh - a project that has taken place without the
benefit of landscape designation91. However the need for the AONB management
trusts92 to secure funding for their work and indeed their own continuation has led these
trusts to focus on sustainable tourism, rural development and visitor and environmental
management objectives in their initial years, and their lack of a statutory remit and
permanent core funding has hampered their ability to work on nature conservation
enhancement.
4.40 The increase in visitors suggested in the Buchanan report, will lead to increased usage
of most areas of a proposed national park in Northern Ireland. These increases will
mainly comprise people who appreciate national parks often through more active
pursuits. Tourists to Northern Ireland currently participate relatively lightly in activities,
whereas most national park visitors tend to walk for longer than average and a
proportion will seek out more adventurous activities within wilder parts of a national
park. Most upland areas in Northern Ireland and particularly the Mournes have
extensive designations for their heathland or upland blanket bog, for which permission
is required for changes in scale and patterns of recreational use. These habitats are
sensitive to trampling and disturbance with some important ground nesting species, and
both recreation management and monitoring will be important activities if increased
numbers are not to lead to degradation of areas of the park.
4.41 It will be important to ensure that national park authorities place sufficient priority on
nature conservation and are allocated sufficient funding to do so.
BUILT HERITAGE
4.42 The landscapes of Northern Ireland contain important evidence of the past, whether in
the form of castles and grand houses, traditional homes, farmsteads, field patterns or
91 When work began the area was part of a proposed AONB, now the area is an EU Geopark .
92 Mourne Heritage Trust and Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust
archaeological remains. The built heritage in most areas is under pressure from
development, insensitive renovation or removal, and in some areas there is relatively
little visual evidence of former housing styles. Protection of the built heritage is mainly
through listing by the Environment and Heritage Service and vigilance in planning
control. Neither of these will become a national park authority role. However national
park authorities can play a role in protection through providing local advice, presenting
information on the cultural heritage, providing grant aid schemes and funding
restoration projects. In Mourne AONB for example a Heritage Lottery Fund project -
The Mourne Homesteads Scheme restored 9 traditional buildings to a modern purpose,
in partnership with the Housing Executive. The programme also provided training for
over 300 people in traditional building skills. In the Causeway Coast and Glens AONB
the Natural Resource Rural Tourism Initiative run by the AONB management group
provided funding for a series of 5 camping barns making use of outbuildings and
traditional dwellings - for example the Kinramer Camping Barn on Rathlin Island,
which provides budget accommodation for visitors, within a sympathetically restored
vernacular building. This project had multiple benefits, including providing an income
for the owner, more accommodation for visitors, the development of a fieldwork base,
and a permissive path along the coastline.
4.43 A further key role played by national parks is the negotiation of access to ancient
monuments to promote awareness and understanding and the provision of interpretative
materials.
4.44 National park designation could be expected to have a positive impact on the built
heritage, although most of the positive mechanisms that parks may employ would not
require designation.
THE LOCAL ECONOMY
4.45 Present proposals include an objective to promote sustainable social and economic
development in the national park. This objective is relatively new in UK national parks.
In national parks across the world there is an increasing recognition of the need to foster
the well-being of national park communities, particularly in cultural landscapes. The
objective recognises the dependence of national park landscapes on farming practices
and living communities, and acknowledges the potential disadvantages that may arise
from designations which focus only on natural heritage and countryside enjoyment
aims.
4.46 Ways in which the local economy can benefit from national park designation include:
additional jobs in tourism, increased spending by tourists, additional jobs in the national
park authority itself, spending by the national park authority in local businesses, and
grant aid programmes provided through the NPA. The proposed Mourne National Park
Authority may provide some 25-30 jobs at all levels, and may gain annual funding of
£2-£4 million - much of which would be spent in the area. This expenditure may itself
create further benefits through the cycling of money within the local economy. In
addition, the national park grant from Government may lever further District Council
spending on the park’s aims and could provide a base to apply for match funding from
other organisations.
4.47 Similar national parks in England receive an annual grant of over £3 million per year
and find this a very limited resource to achieve their two aims. National parks in
England and Wales have received further Sustainable Development Fund support for
local sustainable development projects, but the average of £250,000 per authority is
small in relation to, for example, Natural Resource Rural Tourism funding, which has
supported similar projects in AONBs in Northern Ireland over the past 4 years at levels
of around £3 million for each NRRTI area.. The benefit over the current position of
AONB management trusts in Northern Ireland will be the security of core funding,
provided satisfactory performance is achieved.
4.48 National park authority decisions in formulating the national park plan can also
influence a change in the nature of the local economy away from polluting, extractive or
unsustainable industries and towards clean technology businesses. Quarrying and
aggregate extraction operations may be constrained by the national park authority,
through areas of mineral constraint in the area plan. The impact this would have
depends on the capacity of the current workforce to change and may reduce the number
of unskilled jobs. However NPAs may provide training and reskilling opportunities,
although such courses elsewhere have focussed on countryside management and
sustainable tourism skills.
4.49 Post-2009, local authorities will have important rural and economic development roles
and it is unclear how these will fit with the roles of any national park authority within
their area. Mainstream resources for rural and economic development are likely to be
much greater than funds allocated to the national park authority and therefore it will be
to the benefit of park residents if the social and economic objective is pursued in close
partnership with local authorities, and if national park funding for such activities is
supplementary to, rather than replacing, the efforts and investments of other agencies in
the area.
ACCOUNTABILITY
4.50 Politicians have welcomed the principle (if not the detail) of greater accountability at
regional and local level for the governance of Northern Ireland, and the granting of
greater powers to local authorities over aspects in their own areas. Within a short time
of local authorities receiving their powers, national park authorities may be designated
with significant powers. National park authorities will have a majority of members with
a local interest, but will also have a substantial number of members representing the
interest of the country as a whole in the national park landscape. In this format, they
will be less accountable to the local electorate than a local authority. The NPA will have
to act in accordance with its objectives and where there is a conflict between aims; will
need to prioritise conservation of the natural heritage.
4.51 National parks in England and Wales have been asked to increase their contact with
local communities, in particular to consult on the way that the Sustainable Development
Funds are spent in the area; but also to ensure the engagement of young people in park
activities, and to increase the role of the NPA as a first stop shop to access other
assistance.
PROPERTY PRICES AND SOCIAL HOUSING
4.52 If the proposed Mourne National Park is established, it is almost certain that property
prices and values in the area will rise, relative to properties outside the boundary. The
amount of any such rise is uncertain, but may be in the range of 7-30% based on
evidence from other studies. This is partly due to the branding of the area and also to the
perception that there will be stronger controls on development and greater protection of
amenity, views and the surrounding landscape. This will be an advantage to property
owners wishing to sell, but a disadvantage to local communities and especially first time
buyers.
4.53 Prices for land allocated to housing in the area plan developed by the NPA are also
expected to rise, and this will affect the cost of creating social housing in the area. In
England and Wales additional public money has been allocated to social housing
projects inside national parks, because of this effect, but this has proved insufficient,
and prices have acted to the detriment of social housing supply. This issue is
complicated by the ‘right to buy’ which has led to sales of social housing in attractive
areas and a reduction in the available stock of such housing. This issue has led
elsewhere to a reduction in the mix of people within communities, with imbalances
towards more prosperous socio-economic groups and retirees living in national parks.
Coupled with the difficulties of finding jobs as agricultural employment has declined,
other national park areas have experienced out-migration of their indigenous
communities to find jobs and affordable housing elsewhere. Whether this would happen
in the Mournes or any other area in Northern Ireland is uncertain. Differences between
NI and elsewhere include the size of potential national parks, and well-established
patterns of travelling long distances to work from some rural areas. It is easily possible,
for example, to live within the Mournes and work in Belfast or Newry, or to live in
North Antrim and work in Ballymena, without having to move home. This is not the
case in some of the more extensive national parks in Britain. Out-migration therefore
may be limited to those who wish to realise the increased value of their home, through
selling it and living elsewhere. Retaining or increasing social housing supply in a
national park in Northern Ireland may depend on:
• restricting the right to buy (and sell) social housing;

• enhanced funding for social housing in national park areas;
• requirements for developers to provide a proportion of affordable housing
within all developments, and
• local occupancy clauses on new housing in some or all of the national park.
4.54 This issue is an important one, as an indigenous community, its traditions, culture,
language, knowledge of the area, and its traditional skills cannot be recreated at a later
date. Indigenous communities and their traditional activities are an intrinsic part of the
attractiveness, value and, indeed, the appropriate management of the area.
4.55 The price of some land is expected to fall as it becomes evident that planning
permission for housing or development is unlikely to be granted on certain lands in the
national park. This land should then return to agricultural prices which should benefit
farmers who want to extend their lands and farm economically. It will act to the
detriment of those landowners who would otherwise have had an expectation of selling
some of their land for housing sites.
4. 56 PPS14 with its focus towards development only in towns and villages may have similar
effects. However the duty of the national park authority to protect its special landscapes
should logically lead to greater controls on development inside the NP boundary than
outside.
ACCESS AND RECREATION
4.57 The increase in visitors, predicted in the tourism section, is likely to comprise more
active visitors who have an expectation that there will be facilities for recreation and
access to the countryside. Recent countryside recreation strategies for AONBs in
Northern Ireland identified that two of the weaknesses of these areas in facilitating
visitor activities are the lack of a network of public rights of way and other permissive
access to the countryside and the lack of activity and equipment provision for visitors.
In particular, there is a lack of secure access to the upland areas which are so attractive
to national park visitors from the rest of the UK and overseas. Northern Ireland as a
whole only has an estimated 200 km of asserted public rights of way93, compared with
188,000 km in England, and over 31,000 km in Wales.
4.58 Without more action by local authorities, who have statutory responsibility for access,
there are likely to be three main impacts of national park designation:
1. A mismatch between the expectation of the national park and its reality in terms of
recreational value;
2. Issues between landowners and walkers (in particular) as larger numbers of people use
paths and seek area-wide access;
3. National park authorities and local authorities will not be able to manage monitor or
repair walking routes, or provide car parks or other facilities, where there is no
permission for their use, and
93 Terry Eakin EHS Personal Communication
4. Walking tour operators will not be able to use an area, unless access permissions are in
place.
4.59 The current position in the Mournes, for example, where there is no official public
access except along a handful of short public rights of way, and where the majority of
the uplands are in private or shareholder ownership with no agreed access, will be
unsustainable with increased numbers. Officially, people can only be invited by a park
authority, for example to visit the state forests at Rostrevor, Castlewellan, Drumkeeragh
and Tollymore, to climb Slieve Donard on National Trust land, to climb Slieve Croob
via the telecoms access road, or to visit the Water Service lands within the Mourne Wall
at the Silent Valley. The de facto nature of the remainder of the access means that the
area cannot be promoted and proper management cannot take place. The position is
similar in most other areas in Northern Ireland. Local authorities do have powers to
create agreements for access to open country by agreement or by order, but these
powers have yet to be used.
4.60 Access is not a major priority for councils in Northern Ireland, but would be for national
park authorities. It is desirable that NPAs have powers to create, for example, secure
access to open country, and to enter into arrangements to manage land with public
access arrangements. Consideration should also be given to arrangements that allow for
payments to landowners by Councils or park authorities to manage public rights of way
on their lands or to maintain public access routes over which they have given
permission for walking, cycling and riding.
4.61 Where general countryside access is not in place, the minor road network increases in
significance and needs to provide a shared resource between cars, pedestrians, riders
and cyclists. Most AONBs in Northern Ireland have developed rural cycle routes for
example that depend on minor roads. Stretches of the Waymarked Ways and the Ulster
Way use minor roads for some of their length. National parks in Northern Ireland could
work with Roads Service to develop innovative ways of traffic calming and equalising
road rights in rural areas, as a way of mitigating the lack of other access opportunities.
This would benefit local communities as well as visitors. The Countryside Agency’s
‘Quiet Lanes’ initiative, which has been adopted as part of local authority transport
plans in England, and facilitated in the Transport Act 2000 could provide a model. This
provides for the local transport authority to designate certain minor roads as ‘quiet
lanes’ to protect vulnerable road users.
AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING
4.62 The NRRTI funding in some AONB areas and Fermanagh has enabled the development
of information materials, including websites, leaflets and site information boards to
promote and explain the special natural and cultural interest of the areas. Local
authorities, the Environment and Heritage Service and the National Trust have also
provided information for visitors to protected landscapes in Northern Ireland. National
park status and funding will allow for more resources to be directed towards this
activity.
4.63 Many national parks in Britain and Ireland have information centres that act as a focal
point and orientation point for visitors to the national park and it may be that a national
park authority in NI will decide to take forward the development of such a centre on its
own or in conjunction with another body. Both the Lake District and the Loch Lomond
and the Trossachs National Parks have visitor centres that can accommodate coach
parties, which have exhibitions presenting the special interest of the area, and from
which some typical scenery can be viewed. Such facilities can have several main
effects:
• They can guide people towards less well known attractions and less sensitive
areas of the park and provide a focus for delivering visitor management and
responsible access messages;
• they can directly benefit the local economy and community around the
centre through providing employment;
• purchases of goods and services (e.g. food and drink) are made in national
park centres, the profits from which can help to support national park
programmes;
• national park centres can act as ‘showcases’ for local products and produce,
and
• spending at national park centres may otherwise have been made in private
sector outlets.
4.64 The proposed Mourne National Park for example lacks a major reception point for
visitors - especially coach parties. The most robust and popular reception sites are
Tollymore, Castlewellan, Newcastle’s Main Street and Kilbroney Park, but none of
these provides visitor information about the natural and cultural interest of the area as a
whole. Other areas (e.g. the Sperrins, Fermanagh and the Giant’s Causeway) have
developed visitor centres that do present the wider local landscape interest.
4.65 National park status will raise the importance of providing accessible information for
visitors about the natural and cultural interest of the park, and delivering information
relating to visitor attractions and services, visitor management and responsible access. It
may lead to the development of major visitor focal points within the park area.
IMPACTS ON TRAFFIC AND ROADS
4.66 Traffic congestion is a major documented negative impact on the more popular national
park areas in Britain and any increase in visitor numbers will inevitably bring increases
in traffic. Most visitors to natural resource areas in Northern Ireland arrive by car.
Efforts elsewhere to divert national park visitors into other forms of transport have met
with little success.
4. 67 Some areas of Northern Ireland already experience serious visitor-related traffic

congestion on peak visitor days and holiday periods. Examples include Newcastle Main
Street, car parks at access points to Mourne upland paths, and approaches to the Giant’s
Causeway site. National park status will certainly increase traffic in specific areas and
will require robust approaches to traffic management and sound relationships and
partnership working between the national park authority, Roads Service, public
transport operators, the Rural Transport Fund and coach tour companies.
4.68 Increased traffic can reduce amenity for national park residents. Common impacts are
difficulties in parking to access local services, reduced road safety for children,
reduction in air quality, longer journey times, and a loss of the roads for local recreation
and access.
4.69 A benefit of increased visits can sometimes be the provision of additional public
transport services aimed at visitors, but which may benefit local people. Examples in
Northern Ireland to date have been the Rambler buses provided in the Sperrins, Antrim
Coast, St Patrick’s Country and the Mournes. Such services may not be economically
feasible without custom from visitors.
4.70 Roads, their verges and roadside features are an important part of the landscape
character. This character is normally retained where possible within national parks.
Widening schemes, by-passes and relief roads may be resisted. For this reason, even if
traffic does not increase above the norm, congestion can be experienced more in
national parks than in comparable areas. Conversely, recognition of the landscape
values of the park and pressures from the park authority may lead to more landscape-
sensitive road schemes.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
4.71 A proposed objective of national parks in Northern Ireland will be to promote the
sustainable use of natural resources in the area. Natural resources in Northern Ireland
are likely to include forestry, peatlands, minerals, fisheries, agricultural production and
wind energy. Although national park authorities will not have a direct remit in any of
these areas, the national park plan may set out policies and programmes to influence and
engage other statutory bodies. Such programmes elsewhere have included increasing the
biodiversity of state woodlands through replacing conifers with broad-leaved trees,
encouraging the use of locally sourced timber in buildings, and only permitting
quarrying where there is a demonstrated need for the material and it cannot be sourced
outside the national park. Some national parks outside the UK have provided assistance
for farmers to achieve organic status. Other sustainability projects with different
emphases have included the provision of assistance to industry in sourcing energy from
renewable resources, meeting zero-waste aspirations, and the provision of sustainable
forms of transport.
4.72 As with many initiatives, it remains to be seen what priorities, programmes and
resources a national park authority would direct towards sustainable development. This
area of work however will be in sharp focus with a high Government priority and the
publication of the NI Sustainable Development Strategy.
PLANNING
4.73 Current proposals are that national park authorities in Northern Ireland will have a
development planning role, but not a development control function. This means that
they will set out planning policies for their area in an area plan, but will not be
responsible for receiving, processing or making decisions on development proposals.
This will be a function of the local planning authority for the area.
4.74 The impact that national park authorities in Northern Ireland will have on their areas is
uncertain and entirely depends on the elected and appointed members of the authority.
Clearly they must pursue the aims of designation through the national park plan and
area plan, which should result in:
1. Higher levels of protection and enhancement for the natural, cultural and built
heritage;
2. Increased opportunities and the protection of existing opportunities for access,
recreation and tourism, enhanced visitor services and more effective visitor
management;
3. Development of services that enhance the social and economic well-being of the
national park communities; and
4. Ensuring that the use of natural resources is sustainable.
4.75 A national park authority may set up a planning unit to develop the area plan, but this is
likely to be preceded by work on a baseline ‘state of the park’ report and a national park
plan setting out how the authority will achieve its objectives. The area plan in place at
the time of the designation will run until such time as the park authority has developed
and adopted the park-wide area plan, through consultations with the local communities
and other stakeholders. This is likely to take a period of 3-4 years based on experiences
elsewhere.
4.76 Area plans within national park must be compatible with regional planning policies
within the national park area; hence NPAs will not have complete freedom in devising
the content of plans.
4.77 The exercise of development control powers can enable park authorities to influence the
quality and siting of development within the parks and to achieve their conservation
aims. Thus, development control activities need not be seen as having a primarily
constraining effect on development. Indeed, experience from Dartmoor National Park
suggests that between 80% and 90% of the 750 planning applications the Park Authority
deals with each year are approved and that consultations with local communities and
other interested parties can ensure that development is in the best interest of the Park
and its communities. Conversely, where a national park authority has only a statutory
consultee role on development proposals (e.g. Cairngorms National Park), it is less
likely to be able to positively influence planning decisions, but will receive most
publicity where it is opposing development proposals, albeit in the best interest of the
Park. In such cases, where the local authority, rather than the national park authority,
has the development control responsibilities, the special qualities of the national park
may be of less influence on decisions than say local economic considerations.
CHAPTER 5
MITIGATING AND MONITORING THE IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARK DESIGNATIONS IN

NORTHERN IRELAND
5.1 National parks will have a number of impacts, both positive and negative as discussed
in the preceding chapters. Other impacts will benefit some people and may disadvantage
others. Neither the positive nor the negative impacts are inevitable consequences of a
designation. It is the detail of both primary and subordinate legislation (i.e. legislation
establishing each park), and the decisions made by individual national park authorities,
that will determine the eventual effects.
5.2 A summary of negative and positive impacts noted from other national park areas and
possible in potential national park areas in Northern Ireland is provided in the table
below for easy reference:
Topic Positive Impacts Both positive and negative Negative impacts

impacts
Natural heritage Landscape conservation Possible recreational
Stem loss of biodiversity disturbance, trampling or erosion
Funding for biodiversity
enhancement
Built heritage Landscape conservation Possible wear and tear on sites
Possibly greater incentives to
restore buildings to a tourism
purpose
Access and recreation More recreational visitors Pressure on access sites
Incentives to produce more Use of unofficial sites for
access recreation
Funding for access and Potential conflicts with
recreation projects landowners
Inability to manage unofficial
sites
Tourism National park brand Tourism jobs may replace Traffic congestion
More visitors traditional industry Tourism related development
Higher visitor income Tourism jobs seasonal and low pressures
Tourism jobs paid, low security Second homes
Attract tourist investment National parks may displace Leakage of tourism revenues
More ‘exports’ i.e. overseas tourists from elsewhere in NI with higher outside provider
tourists attracted interest
Agriculture Possible top up agri environment Possible incentives for access Higher vigilance on agri
scheme or special scheme and recreation provision environment issues
Management of access issues Higher pressure for access and
Return to agricultural land values recreation
Use of brand to market local
produce
Agri tourism opportunities
Countryside management jobs
Area planning ( natural More rigorous protection of the Separation of development Higher house and land prices
resource level) landscape and nature planning and development Out migration
Higher design and siting control - NPA not involved in Loss of mixed communities
standards planning decisions – consultees Possible reduction in some
Sustainable industry only unsustainable industries
Higher house and land values
Natural resource level National park authority jobs
management and policy Increased local management and
setting vigilance
Economy Increased income to local area Change in local economy – Possible loss of diversity in
More jobs possible ‘opportunity costs’ employment.
Use of national park brand Cost of landscape protection
measures to NI Budget.
Society Local involvement in wider range Loss of economically mixed
of topics communities
Support for local services
Retention of an attractive
landscape with intact natural and
cultural heritage for present and
future generations
MITIGATING THE IMPACTS
5.3 The fifty year experience of national parks in Britain shows that they have retained
outstanding landscapes that underpin natural biodiversity, domestic visits and
international tourism. The experience has also identified some unintended effects of
national parks on national park communities. It is important that these are not replicated
in Northern Ireland.
5.4 Chief amongst the impacts is the loss in economically mixed communities, caused by
the out migration of people for work and for affordable housing. Though many isolated
rural areas have seen the same trends, the effects seem to have been magnified in
national parks. The challenge for the new generation of national parks in Scotland, and
potentially in Northern Ireland, is to ensure that this change is not an inevitable
consequence of designation.
5.5 Whilst the power to enhance the benefits of national parks lies within the control of
NPAs, the power to mitigate the negative impacts often does not, though the authority
can influence other bodies through the national park plan. It will be important that in
designating a national park, special policies and programmes for national park areas are
also developed by statutory bodies, and that there is teamwork with the national park
authority in dealing with (at least):
• Rural social housing: e.g. ensuring that sufficient funds are available to
continue strong programmes of social housing and services within NP areas;
• Rural transport infrastructure: e.g. to provide attractive transport options for
visitors and local people that reduce car use of rural roads;
• Traffic and roads: e.g. to retain roadside landscape character, consider speed
reduction on recreational rural roads, manage road safety measures for rural
communities;
• Economic development: e.g. to encourage inward investment within
national park areas by green businesses, and to support local sustainable
business start ups;
• Access and recreation: e.g. to accelerate programmes of assertion of public

rights of way and the negotiation of new access, particularly to open country;
• Sustainable tourism: e.g. to support sustainable tourism development and to
develop programmes to reduce leakage of tourism expenditure out of the
local economy;
• Agri environment schemes: e.g. to develop top-up schemes that reflect the
importance of organic, and low impact farming to NP areas and encourage
habitat enhancement;
• Rural development: e.g. to ensure that rural development policies reflect the
special needs of the national park communities;
• Nature conservation management: e.g. to ensure that the impacts of visitors
on the nature conservation interest of the parks are managed;
• Development control: e.g. to ensure that national park policies are carried
through within planning decisions – in particular policies about retaining a
social mix within new housing development, and
• Forestry: e.g. to ensure that the recreational amenity of public lands in
forests in the area is maximised for national park visitors and local people.
MONITORING AND REVIEW
5.6 Ensuring that the benefits of national parks are maximised and their negative impacts
mitigated will require monitoring across a range of measures in a national park. A sister
study to this report94, dealing with the proposed Mourne National Park, has identified a
number of indicators (and their sources), to track the progress and impacts of a
designation. These have been related to the identified impacts above and included in the
table overleaf.
5.7 The indicators proposed fall into a number of categories as follows:
• Demography and Human Resources

• Social Wellbeing
• Farm / Land / Natural Resource Economic Use
• Broader Local Economy
• Service Access and Infrastructural resources
5.8 This work will be particularly important for ensuring that national park designation and
programmes further the Government’s equality and TSN agendas in potential national
park areas in Northern Ireland. Current AONB areas for example:
94 Rural Development Council 2006 Toward an Management and Evaluation Indicator Framework for Social and Economic Aspects of a Mourne National
Park Area. A Scoping Study to Examine the Availability and Use of Secondary Data
• are more likely to have high deprivation levels than most rural areas in NI
with significant aspects being lack of proximity to services, income
deprivation and high unemployment;
• are more likely to have a majority of residents from a catholic community
background95, and
• are more likely to coincide with Less Favoured Areas ( Disadvantaged and
Severely Disadvantaged areas) for farming.
5.9 New policies and programmes for such areas therefore need to enhance the capacity of
local people to sustain themselves economically and to build their social capital and
quality of life. Whilst tourism in protected landscapes is an important opportunity, and
part of the mix of economic activity, the focus should be on developing a diverse
portfolio of sustainable economic activity capable of carrying communities through the
down turn of any aspect of their economy.
95 N I Statistics and Research Agency. Neighbourhood Information Service
RELATIONSHIP OF MONITORING ACTIVITY TO POTENTIAL NATIONAL PARK IMPACTS (EXAMPLES ONLY).
Topic Positive Impacts Both positive and Negative impacts Possible indicators for monitoring Direction of change
negative impacts
Natural heritage Landscape conservation Possible recreational Designated sites in favourable condition Increase or no loss
Stem loss of biodiversity disturbance, trampling or Priority species in favourable condition Increase or no loss
Funding for biodiversity erosion Priority habitats in favourable condition Increase or no loss
enhancement Level of funding for local nature conservation Increase, consistent with needs
% of landowners in agri -environment scheme Increase
Gain from agri environment scheme Length of Increase
hedges, ha. habitat enhanced
Incidence of damage to natural heritage e.g. site Decrease
despoliation, river pollution
Accessible information on the natural heritage Increase
Built heritage Landscape conservation Possible wear and tear on No of listed buildings Increase in vernacular
Incentives to restore buildings sites coverage
to a tourism purpose No of listed buildings in area at risk Down
No of renovations of derelict vernacular buildings Increase
Managed public access to heritage Increase
Information on built heritage Increase
Information and Awareness More opportunities to inform None Accessible information materials Increase
visitors/residents of the Awareness levels residents visitors Increase
special interest Guided experiences Increase
Information accessible to people with disabilities Increase
Access and recreation More recreational visitors Pressure on access sites No of recreational visitors overall and by key sites Within capacity
Incentives to produce more Use of unofficial sites for Km of PROW Increase
access recreation Km of public paths Increase
Funding for access and Potential conflicts with Km2 open country access Increase
recreation projects landowners Opportunities for people with disabilities Increase
Recreation and access Inability to manage
management capability unofficial sites
May exceed carrying
capacity in some areas
negative impacts
Tourism National park brand Tourism jobs may Traffic congestion Tourist expenditure national park Increase
More visitors replace traditional Tourism related Tourist expenditure wider influence area Increase
Higher visitor income industry development pressures No of good jobs (quality measures) Increase
Tourism jobs Tourism jobs Second homes No of local people employed in tourism Monitor
Attract tourist investment seasonal and low Leakage of tourism
More ‘exports’ I .e overseas paid, low security revenues with higher
tourist attracted National parks may outside provider interest
displace tourist from
elsewhere in NI
Agriculture Possible top up agri Possible incentives Higher vigilance on agri Average farm income Increase
environment scheme or for access and environment issues Value added in agriculture in the area Increase
special scheme recreation provision Higher pressure for % of area within agri environment schemes Increase
Management of access access and recreation Farms diversifying into sustainable enterprises Monitor
issues Range of agri environment scheme measures Monitor and report
Return to agricultural land Total expenditure on agri environment schemes Increase
values
Use of brand to market local
produce
Agri tourism opportunities
Area planning ( natural More rigorous protection of Separation of policy Higher house and land No of planning applications ( by zone) Sustainable level
resource level) the landscape and nature and development prices No of planning applications approved Sustainable level
Higher design and siting control Out migration No of people receiving pre application advice Increase
standards Non involvement of Loss of mixed No of successful applications Monitor
Sustainable industry NPA in planning communities Average house price Monitor
Higher house and land values decisions – Possible reduction in Average land prices – agricultural Monitor
consultee only some unsustainable Average land prices -development lands Monitor
industries Out migration Reduce
Travel to work distance Reduce
Natural resource level National park authority NPA jobs Increase
management and policy funding in area £2 million NPA funding Increase
setting National park authority jobs NPA funding leverage Increase
negative impacts
Increased local management
and vigilance
Economy Increased income Change in local Possible loss of diversity Value added Increase
More jobs economy in employment Employment by sector Balanced economy
Use of national park brand Brand and location awareness Increase
Society/Community Local involvement in wider Loss of economically Deprivation levels Reduction
range of topics mixed communities Social housing stock Increase or meet need
Support for local services Reduction in social Access to services Within deprivation measure
housing stock Road safety figures Reduction in collisions and
More traffic deaths
Possibly more crime Community safety measures Improvement

National Park Impacts Report June 2006

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P O T E N TI A L I MP AC T S OF N ATI O N AL P AR KS IN N OR T H ER N I R E L AN D

P REPARED BY J UDITH A A NNETT C OUNTRYSIDE C ONSULTANCY

P ETER S COTT – P ETER S COTT P LANNING S ERVICES LTD .

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ANPA Association for National Park Authorities – Government supported

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................. 5

3. This document is intended to provide an independent assessment of what the

Proposed criteria for selecting national parks in Northern Ireland are:

1. That the area is extensive and is of outstanding national importance

• The appointment of a statutory national park authority (for each

6. Based on an assessment of the impacts of national parks elsewhere and on the

• £2 - £4 million additional funding to the national park area, including

7. In terms of disadvantages of national park designation to an area the report also

• Potential conflicts between landowners and recreational users,

• A study on the changes to tourism numbers, patterns and income in Mourne

2 Report available to download at http://www.mournelive.com/aboutaonb/topics/viewdetails.asp?topicID=14

CHAPTER 2 - CONTEXT - PROTECTED LANDSCAPES AND NATIONAL PARK AREAS

8 United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

NATIONAL PARKS IN ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND

2.15 National parks in England and Wales have a two-fold purpose:

NATIONAL PARK GOVERNANCE IN ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND

2.20 The current range of systems can be summarised as follows:

• Welsh National Park Authorities have two-thirds local authority members

• In Scotland the two national park authorities each have 25 members: 10

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND, WALES AND

Case study 1 – The scope of national park plans

- The special qualities of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

• Employ staff to take forward national park programmes;

• Arrangements for countryside interpretation for visitors;

• Balancing recreation opportunity with sustainability;

16 http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/park/default.asp?p=110 and http://www.cairngorms.co.uk/parkauthority/papers/board/

if it wishes to call in that application. On calling in an application it assumes the full

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL PARKS IN EUROPE – EXAMPLES FROM FRANCE, ITALY ,

17 CNPA Planning Paper 3 Meeting 16th Dec 2005

PROTECTED AREAS IN FRANCE

Case study 3 – French Regional Parks

PROTECTED AREAS IN ITALY

Case study 4 – Italy’s Regional Parks

PROTECTED AREAS IN AUSTRIA

Case study 5 – National Parks in Austria

Case study 6 - Austrian National Parks

NATIONAL PARKS IN GERMANY

Case study 7 – National parks in Germany - The Vorpommersche

A LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARKS DESIGNATION AND

THE EUROPARC REPORT ON DESIGNATIONS IN NORTHERN IRELAND 2002

GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL AUTHORITY INVESTMENT IN NATIONAL PARKS

Lake District National Park Budget (£ million)

Source: Hansard 21 Feb 2005

Case study 8 - England’s National Parks

29 ANPA National Parks Financial and Policy Review

Case Study 9 – National Parks in Romania

Case Study10 – National Parks in Scotland

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF NATIONAL PARKS

• increases in tourists, visitors and recreational users and their expenditure;

• Direct expenditure on accommodation, travel, eating out, services such as

Case study 11a – USA National Parks

Case study 12 – Scotland’s National Parks

Case study 13 – National Parks in Wales

Case study 14 – Exmoor National Park

IMPACTS ON PROPERTY PRICES

IMPACTS ON HOUSING STOCK AND HOUSE PRICES

Case Study15 – National Parks in England and Wales

Case Study 15 - Peak District National Park

However, this apparent stability is threatened by changing national and regional