Refuge

From the wood pastures of the New Forest to the sub-arctic Cairngorms plateaux, Britain's 15 national parks are loved by millions. Created as a gift to a ravaged populace after the war, the parks were envisioned as places for people to enjoy beautiful scenery, with wildlife an incidental detail. Everywhere else in the world, however, national parks exist to protect nature. Britain's national parks are an outlier - heavily impacted by farming, forestry and shooting, even allowing the burning of 'grouse moors'. Shockingly, wildlife is faring worse inside than outside the park borders. Ecologist and land manager Lee Schofield argues that in an era of environmental crisis, we can and must do better. Drawing comparisons with national parks in Europe and beyond, learning from naturalists, scientists, farmers, campaigners, park employees and visitors, he presents a pragmatic, respectful blueprint to turn things around, transforming our national parks to areas where humans and nature can find refuge together.