The context for this plan is exceptionally challenging. The need to respond to the climate and biodiversity crises is already urgent.
The global economic context means National Parks need to work even harder to find fair solutions and to make sure these special places are accessible to everyone as places of refuge, community, and restoration. As the organisation with responsibility for leading across the National Park, we must grapple with the existential implications posed by the prospect of moving beyond the warming threshold of 1.5 degrees and imagine a new future in tandem with planning for the practical implications for our way of life.
Through our stewardship of the 520 square miles of special and unique living landscape which make up the National Park, we can, as a small but important piece of the jigsaw, act as an exemplar which will inspire and enable others in the shared task of safeguarding our home – planet Earth. This Plan will guide us all for at least the next five years. It is therefore imperative that its objectives navigate us back to an existence which is in balance with the Earth’s scarce resources. That is why the Plan is unashamedly ambitious. Our response is demanded by the underpinning evidence base sounding the siren call of a system in collapse which is simply too deafening to ignore.
My experience since coming to the National Park in 2021 has underscored my determination to make a reality of my vision for a Park which is a vibrant example of sustainability. A Park that is environmentally resilient, and economically prosperous, which embraces change, that is open and welcoming to all who seek out connection to nature, beauty, and adventure. I know that I am not alone in this vision. I have met, spoken with and visited many inspirational individuals and organisations, many of whom we feature in this plan as our Sêr Y Bannau: The Future, Stars of the Beacons. Those partners, have in their action and deeds reiterated to me the urgency and necessity of this Plan, at this time in our history to drive home the message of sustainability in all that we do, for current and future generations. I am also determined that this plan helps individuals and organisations connect with the urgency of the issues we are facing.
We have been really lucky to have worked with talented local artists, who have been able to make real the crisis using art and story, imagining what awaits us in the future if we do not deliver on this plan. I particularly wish to thank all of those who took the time to write us postcards from the future they wanted, they have inspired us with their visions of hope. As we now turn to delivery phase, turning these words into deeds, I hope that everyone who reads these pages finds hope in them. And whether you are a statutory body with the duty of the Environment Act to address, an individual resident of the Park, or a visitor, that it enables you to find the resolve to take some action at whatever scale to help safeguard Bannau Brycheiniog for many generations to come.
