Whether you are an avid bird watcher, hiker, horse rider, cyclist, or a lover of scenic views, National Landscapes are at the heart of creating a thriving place for nature and people.
2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act which was the foundation for our Protected Landscapes. National Parks and National Landscapes can do so much to help us deal with the impacts of climate change and support nature recovery.
On Wednesday 24th April, the Surrey Hills National Landscape welcomed Julian Glover, Chair of The Landscapes Review, to Denbies Wine Estate to celebrate the Act and share his vision for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty as National Landscapes.
He said: “I’m so excited about the way our new National Landscapes are going to make England’s countryside greener, healthier, and happier for all of us. With the right backing they can do so much more for people and nature too so it’s uplifting to see Surrey’s National Landscape leading the way”
Julian launched the campaign ‘Postcards from the Future’, where the Surrey Hills Board needs you to share your thoughts on what a thriving National Landscape should be like in 75 years. This initiative aligns with long-term Surrey Hills projects such as tree and hedgerow planting, veteran tree safeguarding, heritage building conservation and heathland and downland restoration. This forward-looking vision will serve as a guide for the upcoming Surrey Hills Management Plan (2025 – 2030), shaping the policies that local authorities will adopt to conserve and enhance this remarkable landscape.
Kathy Atkinson, Chair of the Surrey Hills Board said. “It’s sometimes hard to fathom what as individuals we can do in the face of global threats such as climate change, and nature depletion. Our Postcards from the Future campaign is a way for everyone who cares for the Surrey Hills to make a difference, by having a say in how this amazing landscape will evolve over the remainder of our lifetimes and beyond.
We want to distil the courage and ambition shown by those early countryside campaigners, and the politicians and legislators who agreed with them, and map out a collective vision for the Surrey Hills which recognises that this area will change over the coming decades, in ways that we cannot control as well as through careful stewardship. This land has been managed (and not managed) in a wide variety of ways over thousands of years. Generations have lived, worked, and farmed here; visitors from near and far have cherished the Surrey Hills for more than a century as a place to recharge and refresh during precious leisure time.
By thinking about ourselves in this rich history and looking ahead into a future that we want to help shape, your postcard from the year 2100 will help us map out a journey towards a landscape that will inevitably change, but not by accident or through a lack of vision. So please tell us what you think this landscape should look, smell, sound and feel like in another 75 years, given global and local trends. We want our plan to be ambitious and brave, because we all need a Surrey Hills that is healthy and resilient, for nature and for people.”
Submit your Postcard from the Future via the link below and become a part of shaping the next chapter for the Surrey Hills. Campaign closes on 31st July.
Submit your Postcard from the Future here.
For more information click here.
