November 23rd 2022
On the 15th November, 2022 it was formally announced by the UK Government via the Wild Ennerdale Partnership (Forestry England, National Trust, United Utilities and Natural England) that a new National Nature Reserve was created.
The new ‘Wild Ennerdale National Nature Reserve’ will cover over 3,000 hectares of landscape comprising of; water, forests and mountains, making it the 9th largest in England.
It is what is known as a 'Super NNR' - and it is amongst the first of these which are recognised for their 'landscape-scale approach to partnership working'.
Rachel Oakley, on behalf of the Wild Ennerdale Partnership, said:
“We’re delighted to achieve NNR status for this beautiful Lake District valley. We are constantly reminded of the nature and climate crisis we face now and for the future and this announcement (today) shows how working together and prioritising nature can reap rewards for us all.
These landscapes are constantly evolving and need to be ‘fit for purpose’ to adapt and respond to the many challenges we face. Nature can thrive if given space and a helping hand and we are seeing tangible results of that in Ennerdale. We are doing this through partnership working and today is very much about acknowledging and thanking the wide range of individuals and groups locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally who have supported this journey to date. NNR status is about prioritising nature recovery and will continue to do that at scale, along with many other great projects around the county.
It’s fitting that Wild Ennerdale becomes the largest NNR in the county as we mark the 70th anniversary this year of the first NNR’s back in 1952.”
View full source press release here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/3000-hectares-of-spectacular-lake-district-landscape-becomes-a-new-national-nature-reserve