Exmoor National Park Authority halves carbon emissions

It’s a timely achievement as ENPA joins with other National Parks in the UK, such as the Lake District and Dartmoor, to become the first in the world to commit to the UN-backed ‘Race to Zero’ initiative, driving action to halve carbon emissions within their landscapes by 2030. Exmoor and other UK National Parks are committed to becoming beacons for a sustainable future, using their partnerships to help meet the UK’s climate change targets while also supporting thriving rural communities.

A recent report published by Small World Consulting, led by world-leading carbon-footprinting expert Mike Berners-Lee, shows that changes to reach net zero can deliver a wide range of environmental, economic and social benefits including:

• increased recreational value in landscapes to offer new sustainable employment opportunities

• increased inward investment to support sustainable livelihoods for rural communities

• increased biodiversity

• increased resilience to the effects of flooding, heatwaves and droughts brought about by climate change

• supporting healthier communities and better air quality

Exmoor National Park Authority is not only reducing emissions but helping to draw down excess carbon from the atmosphere, with numerous actions in answer to the climate crisis. From estate work to school activity days, there’s been a switch to electric vehicles and tools, installation of EV charging points across the National Park and a move away from fossil fuels via solar panels, a wind turbine and a biomass boiler installation at its Pinkery outdoor education centre powered by wood grown on ENPA’s estate.

Historic Exmoor House ENPA headquarters in Dulverton is a listed building which can create challenges when applying eco principles, but it now has secondary glazing to improve insulation and reduce energy consumption.

The Exmoor National Park Field Services Team, who look after 1000km of public paths and bridleways across Exmoor, also locally make gates, stiles and iconic signposts seen across Exmoor, from wood grown and processed in its own tree nursery and local timber operation. Everything is sawn using electric tools boosted by solar panels. Any offcuts from the process go back into the biomass boiler to provide energy for the depot in Exford.

ENPA partnership working supports regenerative agriculture schemes such as silvo-pasture, where livestock are grazed around trees to improve soil health and hedgerow planting to offer shade and browsing (extra fodder for livestock), leat creation to aid flood management, mobile chicken housing (helping fly control and to fertilise the ground naturally, reducing reliance on chemical methods) and ‘field to fork’ farm education events to restore lost biodiversity and soil nutrients and improve food security, along with a transition to more locally grown produce, helping to support local business but also halve emissions from food eaten in National Parks by 2050.

Meadow creation as part of the ‘Sowing the Seeds project’, aims to revive and restore species-rich grassland across Exmoor. Orchard and temperate rainforest restoration and supporting sustainable travel are also part of the climate mitigation strategy and ENPA is a Partner in the award-nominated ‘Southwest Peatland Partnership’, restoring carbon-storing peatlands across the region.

Andrea Davis, Chairman of Exmoor National Park Authority said:

“As a climate lead myself for Devon County Council, I am delighted at the dedication Exmoor National Park Authority teams have shown, in this solid commitment to tackling climate change.  We hope by demonstrating the great work we’ve done and already halving our own emissions through the numerous projects happening across Exmoor, we can now encourage other organisations to think about how they can reduce their carbon emissions and the impact of climate change.”

You can read more here about how ENPA is working in partnership to take action on climate change and towards a more nature-rich Exmoor