What started as the mass trespass of Kinder Scout in 1932 led to the creation of the first national park in 1951: Peak District. There are now 15 areas with this status in the UK. This designation protects vital landscapes and wildlife species, while also allowing people to commune with nature. This is utterly important, especially in the current context of climate change, where more and more species become endangered or even extinct. By spending time outdoors people learn to appreciate and protect nature, our planet’s treasure.

100 million people visit UK’s National Parks yearly spending billions in the process and thus supporting local and regional economies. However, the government has reduced England’s national park funding by 40% over the last decade. This has not only led to significant job losses, but also to the termination of projects like: Dartmoor’s Action for Wildlife Initiative, One Planet Dartmoor, Yorkshire Dales’ public transport programmes, Northumberland’s climate change and apprenticeship programmes, North York Moors’ flood prevention work and many more.

Furthermore, £16 million worth of cuts were scheduled for the next three years. In 2023 the Government awarded an additional £4.4 million budget for the 10 National Park Authorities in England to share. This is not a permanent solution. An appropriate budget plan has to be drawn. It should account for the specific needs of every park, their projects, employees and wildlife rehabilitation missions. The loss of these environments would be devastating to an already nature deprived country and the cost would be much higher than the perceived monetary loss from a proper funding scheme. Assuring that these places can still be visited and enjoyed by future generations would help local communities that are heavily reliant on tourism and would actually benefit the whole economy in the long run.

The Treasure project consists of photographing all 10 national parks in England. It aims to raise awareness and to inspire the public to take action and demand a change in budgeting. It will culminate in the sale of 10 one-off prints selected from each location. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to each National Park Authority.