Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) has pledged to continue working to reduce its carbon footprint with the aim of becoming net zero by 2025.
To meet this ambitious target, the park authority has started collaborating with a range of organisations and partnership projects to ensure carbon emissions are reduced and its ecosystems become more sustainable.
In July 2019, the DNPA became the first national park to declare a climate and ecological emergency. In March 2020, Members agreed an organisational Climate Action Plan.
A detailed update was provided to members at the park authority’s recent meeting at the beginning of this month on the work so far, which has included the installation of electric vehicle charging points at the National Park’s Haytor visitor centre, work towards buying renewable energy and a reduction in print materials across all DNPA services. Further plans are in place to install solar panels at the Haytor visitor centre and provide electric vehicle charging points at the Postbridge centre.
Authority Chair Pamela Woods said: ‘It’s excellent to hear about progress made – the organisation and its staff have risen to the challenge. A lot of work has gone into the plan and the actions; it involves complex work in data analysis and identifying where the right support can be given to achieve positive outcomes.
‘The update shows change is happening and is a clear sign we are committed to meeting our climate action goals.’