Bannau Brycheiniog: new name for the park but poor state of nature harder to fix

The former Brecon Beacons has acknowledged it is facing an onslaught of environmental threats – with the UK’s national parks from Dartmoor to the Cairngorms facing similar pressures

“We are all longing for a taste of the wild, of true wilderness. But it’s like Joni Mitchell says: ‘They’ve paved paradise and put up a parking lot’,” says Cathy, who is enjoying a day out hiking in the Brecon Beacons, or Bannau Brycheiniog as it is now to be known.

The national park announced it was changing its name back to the old Welsh one earlier this week and, in doing so, acknowledged a painful open secret: nature in the UK’s national parks is in trouble.