Rewilding costs in North York Moors National Park need to be justified - Yorkshire Post Letters

The proposed cost worked up by the chief executive of North Yorkshire Moors National Park, Tom Hind, for rewilding the Levisham estate needs to be fully justified as budgets are very tight at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) (The Yorkshire Post, November 14, 2023).

The phrase rewilding is letting nature take over by allowing native trees and shrubs to 'self seed' and establish by removing grazing by sheep and other cattle by fencing in areas.

There is already a very successful blueprint of rewilding development which started in 2021 and is being monitored closely by staff at the Broughton Hall (sanctuary) estate, near Skipton in North Yorkshire.

The application for a grant of £650,000 from Defra covering a large area of 2,588 hectares on the Levisham moorland estate appears to be generous.

It is encouraging that the North Yorks Moor National Park has exceeded its ambitious targets for income growth with their dedicated team efforts.

Personally I would prefer part of this money go to more flood alleviation schemes, like reintroducing more natural river flows through remodelling rather than straight canals to accommodate new road schemes and industrial warehousing in low lying areas.