Looking for Peak District heroes! Opportunity for National Park projects to win national recognition

Projects to protect or enhance the Peak District National Park have the chance to win a £1,000 prize award to help their work.

The annual Park Protector Award is offered by the Campaign for National Parks (CNP) to celebrate and support projects protecting National Parks in England and Wales.

Anyone can nominate a person, team or project for the work they have undertaken in a National Park in 2020/21.

This year’s theme is ‘Innovation and Agility in the Face of a Global Pandemic’.

Judges will be looking for projects which are making big differences to National Parks.

These could include: biodiversity improvement; restoring historic buildings; restoring natural landscapes; protecting or campaigning; rural skills; volunteering and youth engagement.

The Moors for the Future Partnership’s Community Science project in the Peak District National Park took the top prize in 2017. The project monitored wildlife in the National Park, looking at the effects of climate change and other issues.

The Peak District National Park’s chief executive Sarah Fowler said: “We are dedicated to caring for the UK’s original National Park and hugely value the support we receive from local projects and never more so in what has been a very challenging year for everyone.

“We know that local residents, communities, businesses and our staff and volunteers have regularly gone above and beyond to adapt, innovate and deliver important work in 2020, from litter picking to habitat creation, nature conservation to climate change solutions, engaging with visitors and meeting the needs asked by the demands of Covid-19.

“I would urge people involved in projects to maintain the special qualities that we hold close in the Peak District to highlight their hard work through the Park Protector Award.”

One of the judges, Anita Konrad, chief executive of Campaign for National Parks, said: “We are specifically looking for how people and teams have adapted to the challenges of 2020 to deliver work that protects National Parks.

“The Park Protector Award is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate amazing projects happening across the English and Welsh National Parks. Please submit a nomination if you know of or are involved in a project doing important work. You can nominate yourself, your team or your project.”

The closing date for nominations is February 28.

Information on how to apply can be found at www.cnp.org.uk/park-protector-award.

The Award, sponsored by Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust, celebrates the work being done to protect and improve National Parks across England and Wales with the winner receiving £1,000 and two runners-up receiving £500 each.

For the first time, there will also be a 'Volunteer of the Year' award, which will be decided by an online public vote in March. The winner will receive a 3-night stay in a holiday cottage in the Lake District when restrictions ease, courtesy of Ramblers Worldwide Holidays.

BBC's Countryfile Magazine will run a feature on the winners in a future edition of the magazine instead of the usual awards ceremony which won’t take place due to the pandemic.