National Park reveals five-year environmental plan

A five-year plan has been unveiled by a National Park to tackle issues including nature loss, flooding and water shortages.

The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) said the partnership management plan had been developed over 18 months and came after several rounds of consultation.

It added that a partnership management plan was the "most important document" for any National Park as it outlined what the authority and its partners wanted to deliver over the next five years.

The plan came after a government assessment on national security, released in January, concluded that continued biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse posed serious risks to food security, energy and water supplies.

A target for the SDNPA was to increase tree canopy and woodland cover by 4,200 football pitches (2,625 hectares) by 2031 to help store carbon, soak up water and create vital new wildlife havens.

It also aimed to restore or create more than 3,300 hectares (8,154 acres) of wildlife-rich habitats by 2031 and to absorb more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere in a bid to help tackle climate change.

The park says the plan is also the next step towards the it's vision for 2060, to have a "thriving, buzzing nature-rich South Downs".

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