River Itchen

Securing Proper Funding

How National Parks are funded, the impact of dwindling resources on the National Parks and the changes needed to secure proper investment and funding.

Over the last decade National Parks have faced a 40% cut to their budgets in real terms, leading to agonising decisions such as selling off publicly owned land and closing visitor services, and limiting the key role these areas could play in reversing biodiversity decline and tackling the climate emergency. 

On this page

How National Parks are funded
The impact of dwindling resources on National Parks
What we’re calling for
Our Impact
Latest on funding and resources

How are National Parks funded?

National Park Authorities and the Broads authority in England are funded by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), in Wales the National Park Authorities are funded by the Welsh Assembly Government

Each National Park receives a different budget which is calculated based on several factors including area, number of visitors, resident population and length of public rights of way.

The impact of dwindling resources on National Parks

To deliver Management plans and achieve the purposes for which National Parks were created, National Park Authorities need funding and resources, and one of the main barriers to making progress on these plans is the lack of both. The funding available does not match the national role that National Parks are expected to deliver on greater nature recovery.  

National Park Authorities have seen a significant drop in their budgets in real terms in recent years and this has affected their ability to deliver certain areas of work. While some have been very successful at securing project funding from private finance and other sources, this in itself requires additional resources, and project funding is often short-term, making it hard to retain skilled and knowledgeable project staff or make sustained progress. 

National Park Authorities will need more resources if they are to take full advantage of the new powers that are needed to give them more influence over what happens in National Parks, and to take the other actions needed to deliver effective Management Plans. There is also a need for long-term funding commitments to enable the kind of long-term planning that is needed to properly protect and improve nature in our National Parks.

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What we’re calling for

The core budget for National Park Authorities (£65m in 2022/23 for the 13 Parks in England and Wales) is just the tip of the iceberg of the overall public investment in these places. This is far surpassed by farming subsidies, investment made by water companies, forestry and other public bodies. There needs to be an alignment of this investment to reach the estimated £1bn needed for nature recovery in National Parks. 

  1. Governments should double the core funding of National Park Authorities – The core funding makes up a tiny proportion of government environment funding, doubling would restore budgets in real terms, to 2010 levels. In return, governments should set out clear expectations for delivery on nature recovery, public access and inclusion and other key outcomes. 
  2. Farmers and land managers within National Parks must receive much greater support – Governments must significantly scale up incentives in National Parks with a focus on landscape scale recovery and supporting farmers to adopt practices to enable nature recovery. 
  3. Public bodies must be required to prioritise investment for nature recovery within National Parks – In England, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 placed stronger duties on these bodies who manage land and operations in National Parks. This new law requires a significant change in approach and must be complied with as part of any decision or course of action that has implications for National Parks. 
  4. A Climate Peatlands Fund should be established – To fulfil the huge potential for carbon sequestration, governments should introduce measures to mobilise private sector investment, underpinning voluntary codes and markets with a regulated framework that provides long-term certainty for business and ensures that investment is delivering for nature aligned with National Park Management Plans.

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