Sustainability is about living within the capacity of the environment and natural resources and
ensuring that the needs of people alive today are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The purposes for which National Parks are designated – conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage, and promoting understanding and enjoyment – lie at the very heart of sustainability.
The major challenge that sustainability presents is increasingly understood and evident. For example, global climate change, collapsing marine fisheries, increasing demand on minerals and other natural resources, “food v fuel”, are all pressing current issues which impact globally and locally.
Many of these issues require immediate action and the Exmoor National Park Management Plan 2007 – 2012 sets out a number of targets which will help to drive activity in this regard. In particular, the Park has committed to becoming “carbon neutral” by 2025 to help tackle climate change.
Local action to promote sustainable development is supported by the Exmoor Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) which has been running for a number of years. This provides funding to projects that contribute towards the Park’s purposes and towards sustainability. Since it began in 2002, more than 100 projects have been awarded in excess of £1.3m from the Exmoor SDF.
Website links: Sustainability South West, www.shapersw.net, Forum for the Future, www.forumforthefuture.org.uk
