London becomes the world's first National Park City
A City-National Park “It is a place, a vision and a broad community that acts together to improve the lives of people and nature. A characteristic element is the commitment to act, in such a way that people, culture and nature work together to provide a better basis for life”, they explain on the website of the National Park City Foundation (NPCF), the association charity behind this initiative.
No, we will not talk about awards or recognition, because being a City-National Park is A starting point is to commit to reinventing oneself, to reimagining oneself to make cities greener and healthier. through institutional actions, but also individual actions that add grains of sand on a day-to-day basis.
In the case of London , the first city in the world to be named a National Park, the campaign to raise awareness and publicize the initiative started five years ago and both citizens and organizations they showed their support for the project by signing the declaration of principles.
For the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a National Park “is a large natural area established to protect the ecological processes, species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, also providing an environmental and cultural foundation compatible with spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational activities and visits”.
The category of National Park is granted by central or regional governments based on specific criteria of each country. The objective with this badge is apply to cities the same principles of conservation, care and relationship with nature that are applied in National Parks. And yes, this new type of National Park is different from rural and urban ones, those that are within cities but do not include them completely.
With this designation and the path traveled to it and to be traveled in the future, London aspires to be a city in which inhabitants and nature are better connected, where you can enjoy green areas and breathe cleaner air.
The prospect is attractive, at least for Newcastle and Glasgow who have already started their campaigns to obtain this badge.