Nature and culture must be balanced in our national parks | Letters

Fiona Howie, Tom Greeves, Andrew Gilruth and Amanda Anderson respond to George Monbiot's article on reclaiming our national parksGeorge Monbiot raises some legitimate concerns about the management of parts of our national parks (Here's a novel idea: protecting wildlife in our national parks, 28 February) but to write off all 15 of them entirely is nonsense.Monbiot says: "Much of the land in our national parks is systematically burned." But they are more than just moorlands; they contain one-third of England's public forest estate. Northumberland contains some of the cleanest rivers in England; the New Forest includes a special area of conservation, an EU designation, that encompasses almost 30,000 hectares; and the Pembrokeshire coast some of the most biodiverse coastal habitats. Continue reading...