Defra's review looked at the future of England's hills and mountains

England’s hills and mountains will be at the centre of a push to support rural tourism, the Government said.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is also considering a change to national parks to place a bigger emphasis on sustainable development, in plans unveiled by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman.

Defra will also look at mobile phone coverage in England’s uplands and is setting up a £20m Community Broadband Fund to bring high-speed service to pilot areas.

The Uplands Policy Review was welcomed by the Campaign for National Parks. Ruth Chambers, the campaign’s deputy chief executive, said: “We warmly welcome the Government’s continued commitment to the role of the national parks, including their work to maintain vibrant, living and working communities and on tackling climate change.

“The Government has also recognised that sustainable development is inherent in the work of the national parks. As we approach the 20-year anniversary of the Rio Declaration, which first brought sustainable development into the international spotlight, we believe that it is timely to review whether any changes need to be made to reflect the importance of sustainable development in the management of national parks.”

The review recognised the difficulties of farming in England’s uplands and also their importance for public services such as water catchment, carbon storage and forestry.

The report said: “The Government wants to see hill farmers become more secure economically, so they can continue in the future as both producers of food and stewards of the valuable natural resources of the uplands.”

Christine Reid, uplands specialist at the Campaign for National Parks, added: “The ‘big idea’ in the Government’s policy statement is to move towards a system of paying farmers for work that they do to improve the uplands for the benefit of society. We strongly support this principle and believe that it will benefit communities and economies as well as the environment.

‘The importance of the upland national parks cannot be over-stated.  The Government has rightly recognised that this is a resource worthy of protection, particularly from complex challenges like climate change; we hope that their positive words will be matched by supportive action and adequate funding.

“We need to see public money targeted towards these exceptional areas now, to ensure landscapes and people are resilient to the climate challenge. The neat idea of combining potential new private funds with existing agri-environment payments could provide more support for farmers.

“For example, United Utilities and other water companies are already paying farmers for tree planting, peatland restoration and appropriate grazing, where this will reduce soil erosion that clogs up reservoirs.  The Government must help other schemes like this to get off the ground.”

John Riddle, chair of Northumberland National Park Authority said: “I welcome the focus which Defra is giving to the uplands and the recognition in the Policy Review of the important services our uplands provide”

He said the authority is keen to work with Defra on its proposal to consult on the role of National Park Authorities in sustainable development.  Mr Riddle added: “Sustainable development is at the core of how national park authorities have been delivering their statutory purposes for more than 50 years, arguably before the term sustainable development existed.

“In Northumberland, it is at the core of what we do and we would like to work with Defra to explore how we can further develop this in the Northumberland Uplands and reflect this within the statutory role of National Park Authorities”.

Caroline Spelman said: “Government’s role in these difficult economic times is to make sure that where public money is spent it is used wisely and makes a real difference and that we mobilise the enormous skill and enthusiasm of partners across society, whether farming or other businesses, local government, statutory bodies like national parks, or voluntary bodies such as the National Trust and RSPB.