We’re carrying out a review into whether the protections for National Parks and AONBs are still fit for purpose. In particular, what might be done better, what changes will help and if the definitions and systems in place are still valid.

The review will be led by Julian Glover and supported by an experienced advisory group. The members of the group have been announced as Lord Cameron of Dillington, Jim Dixon, Sarah Mukherjee, Dame Fiona Reynolds and Jake Fiennes. The review started in June 2018 and will report in 2019.

The review’s terms of reference set out what it will look at and how it will be carried out.

What it’s about

It is nearly 70 years since a bold decision was taken by Parliament to preserve some of England’s finest landscapes and help people visit and enjoy them.

England is home to 10 National Parks and 34 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). Their rugged mountains, unspoilt coastlines, farmed landscapes and vast moorlands attract more than 260 million visitors a year and are home to over 2.3 million people.

Now, 7 decades after a visionary report led by Sir Arthur Hobhouse led to their creation, it’s time to renew the mission. As part of the 25 Year Environment Plan, the government has asked Julian Glover to lead an expert panel looking at how these protections can be renewed.

The review’s purpose is to ask what might be done better, what changes could assist these areas, and whether definitions and systems – which in many cases date back to their original creation – are still sufficient. Weakening or undermining existing protections or geographic scope are not considered.

Instead, the review will look at:

• the existing statutory purposes for National Parks and AONBs and how effectively they are being met
• the alignment of these purposes with the goals set out in the 25-Year Environment Plan
• the case for extension or creation of new designated areas
• how to improve individual and collective governance of National Parks and AONBs, and how that governance interacts with other national assets
• the financing of National Parks and AONBs
• how to enhance the environment and biodiversity in existing designations
• how to build on the existing eight-point plan for National Parks and to connect more people with the natural environment from all sections of society and improve health and wellbeing
• how well National Parks and AONBs support communities
• the process of designating National Parks and AONBs and extending boundary areas, with a view to improving and expediting the process

What happens next

So far, the review has focused on visiting these places and talking to people that visit, live or work in and care for them. Between them, the panel have already visited many National Parks and AONBs and plan to continue this into 2019.

We expect to publish the report making recommendations to government in Autumn 2019.

Who’s involved

Led by Julian Glover, the panel also includes Lord Cameron of Dillington, Jim Dixon, Sarah Mukherjee, Dame Fiona Reynolds and Jake Fiennes.

Learn more about the panel members

Julian Glover – Lead Reviewer

Associate editor at the London Evening Standard and author of the biography Man of Iron: Thomas Telford and the Building of Britain. He has worked as leader writer and columnist at the Guardian and as a Special Adviser in Number 10 and the Department for Transport.

Lord Cameron of Dillington

Cross-bench peer, farmer and landowner. As the former Chair of the Countryside Agency, he is a strong advocate for rural affairs. He is currently the chair of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 Committee and the Advisory Council for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. He is also on the Steering Board of the Government’s Global Food Security Programme.

Jim Dixon

Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park Authority for 12 years, before stepping down in 2014. He is currently a writer on countryside issues, including for the Times, and a trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Sarah Mukherjee

Former BBC environment and rural affairs correspondent and previous Director of Environment at Water UK. She is currently Chief Executive of the Crop Protection Association. She is a trustee and advisory group member for several charities, supporting both environmental stewardship and education in farming.

Dame Fiona Reynolds

Formerly the Director-General of the National Trust and current Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Chair of the Green Alliance. She is the author of The Fight for Beauty (2016), a history of thought and public policy on landscapes and environment in Britain.

Jake Fiennes

Became General Manager for Conservation of the 25,000 acre Holkham Estate in autumn 2018 after 24 years as Estate Manager promoting nature conservation alongside arable farming at Raveningham Estate. He is also a trustee and advisory group member of several organisations including the National Farmers’ Union’s Environmental Forum and the Norfolk Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group.

Three men have been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling more than £1,300 for poaching with illegal fishing nets in the River Derwent in Gateshead.

Scott McGuire, 30, of Beach Road, South Shields, appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 24 May, where he pleaded guilty to using gill nets to catch fish at Durham Bank, Rowlands Gill. He was fined £120, ordered to pay £300 costs and a victim surcharge of £30.

Stuart Ashall, 45, also of Beach Road, appeared previously on 4 January for the same offence where he pleaded guilty and was fined £180, ordered to pay £400 in costs and a victim surcharge of £30.

A third man, John Britten, 34, of Belgrave Road in South Shields, had also previously pleaded guilty to the same office and was fined £45, ordered to pay costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £30 at a court hearing on 8 November last year.

Gill nets are designed to catch fish by their gills and are rarely licensed in rivers due to their indiscriminate nature and the fact that fish caught in the nets will usually suffocate and die.

Illegal gill net

Representing the Environment Agency, solicitor Chris Bunting told the court that Environment Agency enforcement officers were patrolling the River Derwent on 22 July 2016, looking for people fishing illegally.

At 12.40pm they came across a tent with the three men asleep, two inside and one outside. In the river next to them was a gill net set across the river. There was also a salmon head on the ground.

The men said the net had been there when they arrived and they had got the salmon from a supermarket.

However, investigations from a fisheries expert concluded the remains were of an adult wild migratory salmon which had been subject to physical trauma before death and exposed to the natural environment post death. A fish bought from a supermarket would be farmed.

Two of the men attended for voluntary interviews on 8 August, 2016, where they said they did not know there was a net in the river until the enforcement officers had pointed it out, adding they had met some strangers on the riverbank the night before, who spoke to them before leaving. They reiterated the salmon was from a supermarket.

Net is extremely damaging

Following the case David Shears, Senior Fisheries Enforcement Officer for the Environment Agency in the North East, said:

The River Derwent is a recovering river that had been previously affected by industry but which has been slowly improving.

Water quality has improved drastically and a fish pass has been installed in Blaydon which has resulted in fish returning and repopulating the river system.

Gill nets such as the one used in this case are designed to catch fish by their gills and can be extremely damaging to fish stocks. Illegal fishing like this can have a devastating impact, especially on recovering rivers such as the Derwent.

We’re committed to tackling illegal fishing of all kinds and we’ll continue to work closely with police and angling clubs, supported by the Angling Trust, to target those flouting the law and take enforcement action.

All income from rod licence sales is used to fund Environment Agency work to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries, including improving habitats for fish and facilities for anglers, tackling illegal fishing and working with partners to encourage people to give fishing a go.

Buying a rod licence is quick and easy – you can buy them online

Environment Agency enforcement officers in Nottinghamshire will be patrolling waters throughout the East Midlands this bank holiday weekend (26 to 28 May 2018) as part of a clampdown on illegal fishing.

The officers will be making sure anyone fishing is obeying the law. They’ll be checking that people are not fishing in waters closed to anglers, are using the right tackle and equipment, and have a valid fishing licence.

Fish legally this bank holiday

Bank holiday weekends are a great opportunity for families to get out and do some fishing on waterways and the Environment Agency is keen to ensure everyone is enjoying themselves and doing the right thing.

In April this year, enforcement officers checked 1,074 anglers, with the majority being fully licensed and compliant. In that period, officers reported 31 people for offences. During the last May bank holiday weekend, 530 anglers were checked and 30 people were reported for offences.

Callum Underhill, fisheries enforcement officer at the Environment Agency, said:

We will once again be out and about around the county this bank holiday to make sure everyone is fishing legally. Anyone caught breaking the law can expect to face prosecution.

We regularly carry out enforcement operations in order to protect fish stocks and improve fisheries. We take all kinds of illegal fishing extremely seriously, whether it’s fishing without a licence, using illegal equipment or fishing in the close season.

Illegal fishing is not just unfair on other anglers who fish within the law, it also endangers the future of the sport by damaging the sustainability of fish stocks, so it is important for people to report to us any information about suspected illegal fishing so we can investigate.

Officers to target hotspots

The Environment Agency’s work is intelligence-led and officers work closely with partners to target known hotspots and act on reports of illegal fishing.

Anglers are reminded that it is currently the close season for coarse fishing, so fishing for coarse fish on rivers and streams is not permitted. This is to protect breeding fish, helping to safeguard stocks for the future. Anglers are encouraged to check which waterways are open to fishing by reading their area’s byelaws.

Investing in fish

Money from fishing licence sales is invested in England’s fisheries, and is used to fund a wide range of projects to improve facilities for anglers, including protecting stocks, restoring fish stocks through re-stocking, eradicating invasive species, and making fish habitat improvements. Fishing licence money is also used to fund the Angling Trust to provide information about fishing and to encourage participation in the sport.

Anyone who wants to go fishing needs to buy a fishing licence. A full annual licence costs from just £30 and is available online.

Environment Agency enforcement officers in Nottinghamshire will be patrolling waters throughout the East Midlands this bank holiday weekend (26 to 28 May 2018) as part of a clampdown on illegal fishing.

The officers will be making sure anyone fishing is obeying the law. They’ll be checking that people are not fishing in waters closed to anglers, are using the right tackle and equipment, and have a valid fishing licence.

Fish legally this bank holiday

Bank holiday weekends are a great opportunity for families to get out and do some fishing on waterways and the Environment Agency is keen to ensure everyone is enjoying themselves and doing the right thing.

In April this year, enforcement officers checked 1,074 anglers, with the majority being fully licensed and compliant. In that period, officers reported 31 people for offences. During the last May bank holiday weekend, 530 anglers were checked and 30 people were reported for offences.

Callum Underhill, fisheries enforcement officer at the Environment Agency, said:

We will once again be out and about around the county this bank holiday to make sure everyone is fishing legally. Anyone caught breaking the law can expect to face prosecution.

We regularly carry out enforcement operations in order to protect fish stocks and improve fisheries. We take all kinds of illegal fishing extremely seriously, whether it’s fishing without a licence, using illegal equipment or fishing in the close season.

Illegal fishing is not just unfair on other anglers who fish within the law, it also endangers the future of the sport by damaging the sustainability of fish stocks, so it is important for people to report to us any information about suspected illegal fishing so we can investigate.

Officers to target hotspots

The Environment Agency’s work is intelligence-led and officers work closely with partners to target known hotspots and act on reports of illegal fishing.

Anglers are reminded that it is currently the close season for coarse fishing, so fishing for coarse fish on rivers and streams is not permitted. This is to protect breeding fish, helping to safeguard stocks for the future. Anglers are encouraged to check which waterways are open to fishing by reading their area’s byelaws.

Investing in fish

Money from fishing licence sales is invested in England’s fisheries, and is used to fund a wide range of projects to improve facilities for anglers, including protecting stocks, restoring fish stocks through re-stocking, eradicating invasive species, and making fish habitat improvements. Fishing licence money is also used to fund the Angling Trust to provide information about fishing and to encourage participation in the sport.

Anyone who wants to go fishing needs to buy a fishing licence. A full annual licence costs from just £30 and is available online.