National park farming to get big boost as demand for food soars

FARMING in one of Yorkshire’s national parks will be given a major boost in a bid to help meet the soaring demand for sustainable supplies of food.

The agriculture industry in the North York Moors National Park already provides a multi-million pound cash injection into the local economy.

But a blueprint to evolve the national park over the next 15 years is now looking to provide the first formal strategy to bolster the farming sector.

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It is hoped the move will help address the mounting concerns about the worldwide demand for a sustainable supply of food. There are intense challenges to produce and supply enough safe and nutritious food for a growing global population, which is projected to reach nine billion by 2050.

A far-reaching draft plan which is being finalised by the North York Moors National Park Authority is attempting to help promote agriculture, while also protecting the famous landscapes.

The park authority’s policy manager, Sarah Housden, who has been leading on the new management plan, said there was a clear need to strike a balance between farming and preserving the environment.

But she added: “Agriculture has been the key influence on the landscapes over the centuries, although it is not something we have promoted in previous management plans.

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“With the growing demand for food and the fact that it is such a key element of the local area, we have decided that farming should be included in the new plan.

“We want to ensure that we provide a mixed economy in the national park, and not one that is solely reliant on tourism.

People often think solely of sheep farming being the main sector, but there is also dairy and arable farming. It is a diverse sector, and one we want to promote.

“There are obviously concerns about the impact increased farming could have on bio-diversity, but it is about finding the right balance.”

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Work on the new management plan began three years ago, and a final draft is due to be considered by the national park authority on May 24.

Researchers from Askham Bryan College in York were commissioned to establish the economic benefits of the farming industry for the management plan.

The study found that agriculture within the confines of the national park contributed £56m to the economy during 2009.

The report also showed there are nearly 300,000 upland and lowland sheep in the national park. The new management plan has set targets to increase the number of upland sheep by 6,000 to provide an additional 24 tonnes of meat and 500 breeding lambs, while also boosting crop yields by five per cent.

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The strategy sets out targets to increase both woodland and grassland areas, which will be used to connect often isolated habitats to increase bio-diversity. Plans include planting an extra 1,200 acres of woodland, and creating or restoring a similar area of species rich grassland by 2017.

Marketing campaigns will also be launched to strengthen the brand of the North York Moors National Park to boost the already hugely important tourism industry. It is estimated that an extra million visitors – up from the 6.4 million tourists in 2010 – can be accommodated, especially in the autumn and winter months, without damaging the landscape.

However, the Yorkshire Post revealed in November that the national park authority’s chief executive, Andy Wilson, had warned intensifying pressures to boost tourism while preserving the landscape are compounding an already perilous financial situation.

The management plan is being drawn up at a time the national park is facing up to swingeing cutbacks in funding from the Government. The authority’s grant is being reduced by 21.5 per cent from £5.1m in the current financial year to £4.3m by 2014/15.