At a specially arranged meeting in Trentabank Visitor Centre, local MP, David Rutley, met with Ms Sarah Fowler, Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park Authority and Ms Sarah Slowther, Manager of the Peak District National Park Foundation to discuss the National Park's plans for conservation and to tackle climate change.
The Peak District National Park Foundation is a registered charity, which was founded in 2019 to raise funds to realise its vision of a National Park enjoyed and conserved by everyone. The Foundation is focussing on three key priorities based on the National Park Management Plan: preparing for a future climate, conservation and habitat restoration and creating a National Park for everyone. Ms Fowler highlighted the importance of the National Park to our local communities and how the Foundation's work is already making an impact.
The Peak District National Park's 70th anniversary will take place on 17th April 2021. The Foundation is celebrating this with its "#70kfor70" campaign and hopes to raise £70,000 to support a range of access and conservation projects across the 555sq miles of National Park. Funds will be raised to support projects involving moorland conservation, habitat restoration, junior rangers and opening up the National Park to a wider range of communities. Any local residents who wish to get involved in this should contact Sarah Slowther on sarah@peakdistrictfoundatoin.org.uk or 01629 816 200.
The park is enjoyed by over 13 million people a year and provides a home for bio-diverse nature as well as playing a vital role in tackling climate change with healthy moorland, woods and grasslands storing over 20m tonnes of carbon as well as filtering our water and providing natural flood alleviation.
Speaking after his visit, David said "We are fortunate to have the beautiful countryside of the Peak District National Park on our doorstep and it is important that we maintain it for future generations. I was pleased to hear of the work being done on addressing the challenges of climate change, conservation and creating a national park for everyone. The "#70kfor70" campaign will help make a difference in achieving these priorities. I hope that many local residents will get involved.