Benefits of engaging
Why become an Accredited Country Park?
Direct benefits to individual sites who achieve accreditation:
A certificate to display
Site will appear on a list of Accredited Country Parks - this will be made available to the public via media such as Natural England’s web site
Site details will be added to a spatial map dataset of Country Parks (owned and managed by Natural England)
Further benefits will be announced as they are agreed.
Potential indirect benefits to individual sites who achieve accreditation:
Highlights to site managers and funders the core facilities and services a site needs to establish and maintain to remain a recognised Country Park
Strengthen applications for partnersip funding being made by Country Park Managers in support of delivery of facilities and services
Potentially leads to increased visits/more visitors to Country Parks by increasing visitor confidence that facilities that they can expect to find will be there.
Benefits to sites that can’t demonstrate they meet the criteria
Identifies any core facilities and services that are lacking/need attention
Provides evidence of need for presentation to local politicians, fund holders and potential external funding bodies. Potentially underpins any case for investment to these bodies
Identification of networking opportunities where it will be possible to learn from others' experiences of putting in place and managing core facilities and services
Benefits to members of the public:
Sets out clearly what can be considered a Country Park and what core facilities and services people can expect when visiting
Boosts visitor confidence in Country Parks – influences people's choices when planning visits to the natural environment
Provides information on which sites are actually delivering the core services and facilities expected
Provides guidance on expectations of the ‘brand’ in support of people who may wish to champion retention of facilities or site improvements with local politicians/authorities
Benefits to wider greenspace and other agendas
Enables comparison on what makes a Country Park distinctive from other parks and green spaces.
Establishes a benchmark level of core services and facilities that parks aspiring to become Country Parks should aim to offer
This is essential information for regeneration planners looking at developing new or improving existing Country Parks
