Recover With Nature
Innovation Engines for a Green Recovery
Incremental change is no longer an option. We need approaches that will shift things by an order of magnitude x10, x100, x1000. As a consequence, we have re-examined how National Parks deliver their statutory purposes to identify how we can also deliver this type of change at scale. We see our collective role as this: to be Innovation Engines for a Green Recovery. We are working together – and with other partners – to create large scale projects that test new approaches to generating sustainable growth in the wellbeing of people, landscapes, nature, culture, social institutions and the economy.
Recover with nature
Although our Green Recovery projects span a variety of issues and disciplines – from sustainable transport to mental health – they all have the same mechanism for how they deliver value. We call them Recover With Nature projects. Recover With Nature projects grow wellbeing through doing the right thing by nature. Traditional economic models for a green recovery tend to be designed in times of plenty and get side-lined when economic times get tough because they are viewed as having a net economic or social cost. Recover With Nature projects don’t see caring for nature as a cost, instead they use different approaches, new science and technology to care for nature and in so doing increase economic, social and personal wellbeing. They multiply value, creating a win-win.
Join us
Below are some examples of our Recover With Nature projects. These are collaborative efforts, to deliver at scale. That might be collaboration between different National Parks but will also in the majority of cases mean collaboration with other organisations: government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector and landowners. So if you would like to get involved in any of these projects or to suggest other projects that we might get behind to add to this list, then please get in touch directly via the email addresses below or through the CEO of your nearest National Park.
Recover With Nature projects fall into two categories: Environmental Recovery Projects and Social Recovery Projects.
Environmental Recovery Projects
Environmental Recovery Projects explore new means to care for and work with nature that also reduce carbon emissions and create new economic models.
Net Zero With Nature
Net Zero With Nature (NZWN) is the UK National Parks strategy for the fight against the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. It includes plans to secure at least £239 million of additional funding to restore and protect forests, wetlands, meadows and peatlands within National Parks and surrounding areas. The 15 UK National Parks have made clear commitments on climate change and biodiversity goals and NZWN also describes how we will inspire and help our communities, visitors and UK plc to identify and commit to their own ambitions in this vital effort.
The Great North Bog
The Great North Bog is a peatland restoration project that covers 7,000 square kilometres. Peatland is the UK’s rainforest – a key asset in tackling the climate emergency. This 20-year project – including four National Parks, three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the proposed South Pennines Park – will vastly improve the UK’s ability to sequester carbon and enhance biodiversity. It will also reduce flood risk in the surrounding communities – helping tackle the symptoms of climate change as well as the cause. It will even improve the quality of drinking water whilst reducing the costs of supplying it.
Find out more: info@greatnorthbog.org.uk
Electric National Parks
The Peak District and Lake District have teamed up with local and national government to access significant funding to address the complex issue of sustainable transport. Work includes:
- Installing the infrastructure so that travel within Parks is purely electric
- Developing integrated transport strategies that help visitors get to Parks in new ways
- Social and behaviour change thinking that will help people adopt new personal strategies.
This is a golden example of how National Parks can be engines for a green recovery to secure the sustainable wellbeing of the UK.
Find out more: Richard.Leafe@lakedistrict.gov.uk
Did you know?
Social Recovery Projects
Social Recovery Projects explore ways to increase the numbers and diversity of people benefiting physically, mentally and socially from accessing nature. This includes creating employment and careers that are sustainable in the long term.
Nature Health Network
Nature connectedness can make a positive impact on both physical and mental health. The scientific evidence for the beneficial, cost effective impact of nature connectedness as part of an effective public health strategy is well established. How to make that work is less well understood.
Four National Parks in the South of England have teamed up with Bournemouth University and Public Health England in the region to create the Nature Health Network to aggregate experience and knowledge of what works. It has over 40 member organisations including charities, NHS commissioning bodies, local government and frontline healthcare teams. A new Fellowship post has been created that will see five healthcare professionals take a one year post within National Parks to advance the scientific evidence of this work in their own personal area of interest and to take that experience back into national Public Health bodies at a senior level.
Find out more: Jim.Mitchell@newforestnpa.go.uk
Careers With Nature
A vital part of Green Recovery is giving opportunities for sustainable careers to young people. The National Park Authorities are already contributing to this through youth employment strategies, apprenticeships and internships, not to mention the inspirational work being done with thousands of schoolchildren every year.
As part of the drive for green jobs – National Parks Authorities provided Kickstart opportunities for young people on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. National Parks across the United Kingdom work to give young people a positive start and opportunities to look at long term careers within the National Park network. A diverse workforce is key for the future of National Parks, and careers in sustainable sectors are vital for the future of the UK economy.
Find out more: GrantMoir@cairngorms.co.uk
Parks For All
Across the 15 National Parks there are dozens of projects that engage with community programmes and charities to afford access to underrepresented communities. Parks For All is a project to aggregate this experience in order to accelerate an improvement in equality of access to National Parks and to careers looking after them.
These existing projects will act as a model to be rolled out more widely and as a means to gain grant and commercial funding to boost this work. To make sure that it is guided by people that have first-hand, lived experience of relevant issues, Parks For All will bring leaders of community programmes into the project as the key voices informing strategy and delivery. National Parks will also seek commercial partners that have successful track records of creating meaningful change at pace in this area.
Did you know?
Working With Nature
Biodiversity , Find out more
Creating the foundation of resilient ecosystems.
Habitats , Find out more
Up to 80% of the country’s priority conservation habitats are within National Parks.
Climate change , Find out more
Managing landscapes to combat climate change.
15 National Parks. One shared challenge. Our climate is changing, and with it comes an increased risk of wildfire across our landscapes.
That’s why we’ve committed to taking action through our new Wildfire Management Position Statement. Together, the National Parks will work to support nature recovery to help manage wildfire risk, plan for and strengthen wildfire response and coordination, improve risk management and preparedness, and share clear, consistent public messaging.
But we can’t do it alone.
Communities, organisations, land managers and visitors all have a role to play in reducing wildfire risk. By working together, we can help protect our National Parks and prepare for a future where hotter, drier weather may increase the risk of wildfire.
Read the full statement by clicking on the link in our bio 🔗
Photos:
Slide 1 - Fighting the Glenmore wildfire, © Ed Smith. Slide 2 - Fighting the Glenmore wildfire, © Malcolm Smith. Slide 3 - View across Loch Morlich during Glenmore wildfire, July 2026, © Brenna Jessie. Slide 4 - Fighting the Glenmore wildfire, © Malcolm Smith. Slide 5 - View from the cab of a tractor aiding in fighting the wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park, CPNA. Slide 5 - Firefighting vehicles at the Glenmore wildfire, © Malcolm Smith.
#Wildfires #NationalParksUK
It’s not every day you get to see one of our National Parks in biscuit form on @britishbakeoff!
Last night, The Great British Bake Off contestant @itsdoctoryan created a beautiful biscuit mosaic inspired by the Broads National Park, perfectly capturing the view at St Benet’s Mill, Thurne.
And it wasn’t just a feast for the eyes as the mosaic was made using treacle and ginger, honey and lemon, cocoa and malted milk, and pistachio biscuits.
Two great things combined: a beautiful National Park view and delicious biscuits. What could be better than that? 💚
Photo: Channel 4
#GBBO #BakeOff #NorfolkBroads @broadsnationalpark
You’ve likely heard of one - but what does it actually do?
Our 15 Parks wouldn’t be able to function without the authorities working behind the scenes to keep them running.
And each authority relies on people. People within the community, volunteers, staff and members. People that run businesses, or partner as organisations. People that are skilled and knowledgeable in a variety of areas from wildlife to accessibility.
Our National Parks are full of people and action, and it’s the Authorities that bring them all together.
💚
#NationalParksUK #NationalParkAuthorities
The Yorkshire Dales has one of the highest concentrations of caves and caverns of any of our 15 National Parks - a whole landscape hiding beneath the ground.
Our National Parks don’t just protect and preserve the landscapes we see every day. They also help care for historic and unique places discovered by our ancestors, like Ingleborough Cave and Gaping Gill, both of which were shrouded in myth and legend until they were explored by Victorians in the 1800s.
There’s so much more to our National Parks than meets the eye and sometimes, quite literally beneath the surface 👀
#YorkshireDales #GapingGill #Ingleborough
A week on from National Parks UK’s Big Volunteer Weekend, we’re still celebrating the people who make a difference across our National Parks.
Last weekend, hundreds of people came together across all 15 National Parks to give their time, share their skills and support our landscapes.
But volunteering in our National Parks doesn’t happen just one weekend a year. All year round, volunteers play an incredible variety of roles – from leading guided walks and supporting education, to conservation, planting and caring for our landscapes.
Every volunteer makes a valuable contribution to protecting our natural and cultural heritage. We simply couldn’t do what we do without you. 💚
So, to all our volunteers: thank you for your time, energy, enthusiasm and everything you bring to our National Parks.
If you know someone who volunteers in a National Park, help us spread the thanks by sharing this post. 🌿
#Volunteers #NationalParks #NationalParksUK
Mae’r Bele yn un o famaliaid prinnaf Cymru, ond mae eu niferoedd yn tyfu yn raddol. Mae hynny’n newyddion da i’n coetiroedd ac i’r Parciau Cenedlaethol, sy’n darparu rhai o’r cynefinoedd pwysicaf ar gyfer bywyd gwyllt ledled Cymru a Phrydain.
Ym Mannau Brycheiniog, mae’r prosiect adfer wedi gosod blychau nythu yn y coed, ac mae gwaith monitro wedi nodi presenoldeb y Bele, gan gynnwys grwpiau teuluol. Mae’r ffilm arbennig hon yn dangos un ohonynt ar waith. 🐾
Mae’n atgof hyfryd o’r hyn sy’n bosibl pan ddaw coetiroedd iach a gwaith cadwraeth arbenigol at ei gilydd i roi’r gofod sydd ei angen ar rywogaethau prin i wella.
Pine Martens are one of Wales’ rarest mammals, but they’re slowly making a comeback. That’s good news for our woodlands, and for National Parks, which provide some of the most important habitats for wildlife across Wales and Britain.
In Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), the recovery project has installed treetop den boxes, with monitoring identifying pine martens, including family groups. This special footage shows one in action. 🐾
It’s a lovely reminder of what can happen when healthy woodlands and specialist conservation work come together to give rare species the space they need to recover.
#BreconBeacons #BannauBrycheiniog #PineMartins #Wales
It’s the Autumn Equinox 🍂
Our National Parks are always changing in time with the rhythm of nature, but this becomes particularly noticeable when autumn arrives.
Deer begin to rut, spiders’ cobwebs glisten in the fresh light, fungi become more prominent, and leaves begin to change colour.
What changes have you noticed so far? 🧡
#Autumn #AutumnEquinox #NationalParks
“You look after the National Park not for yourself, but for people who are coming, the ones who are following you.”
These are the words of Ron Wood, who has been volunteering for the Lake District National Park for over 60 years. His story reflects the vital role volunteering plays across our National Parks: keeping them thriving, communities invested, and people connected to and caring for our landscapes.
Over the decades, Ron’s incredible journey has seen him remain steadfast in his commitment through droughts, hand, foot and mouth disease, and the ever-changing rhythms of nature. Through it all, one thing has remained constant: his dedication to looking after the environment for those who come after him.
You can read Ron`s full story by clicking the link in our bio or learn more about volunteering at nationalparks.uk/volunteering 🔗
📸Photos by @lakedistrictnpa
#LakeDistrict #Volunteering #NationalParks
