This plan is our main governing document setting out the legal background to the National Landscape, a shared vision for its future and policies that help guide the partnership and others to look after this special place.  The Management Plan is widely consulted upon and lasts for 5 years: the current one will be reviewed and republished in 2025, following new guidance from Natural England.

The team and wider partnership work hard to raise funds to deliver specific conservation projects, to further people’s understanding and appreciation of natural beauty, and to increase the benefits they get from it.  These are often designed to bring different organisations and individuals together so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Find out more about current and past projects in our project pages.

We believe the Dorset National Landscape and its special qualities will be looked after well into the future if people know how they benefit from it and how to get the most out of this special place. 

The views of the National Landscape’s residents and visitors are important to us.  We will consult widely on the Management Plan and project plans, and we will promote relevant opportunities for great experiences.  If you’d like to hear from us about these, sign up to our newsletter.  If you think we should be working together to tackle landscape issues near you, please get in touch with the team.

To put Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at the heart of our work in Dorset, we have identified both strategic and practical priorities to inspire, empower and engage everyone to connect with the landscapes around them in 2023-24 and beyond. See the Dorset National Landscape EDI Statement of Intent for more details.

We also keep an eye on the state of the National Landscape, the issues that are affecting it and the impact of our work, with guidance from the National Landscape Association and Defra.

Priorities – core

• Giving advice on planning, development management and agri-environment delivery.
• Creating new partnerships and bringing in new funds to support delivery.
• Promoting the shared vision and objectives to secure support for delivery.

Priorities – area based

• A landscape-scale heritage conservation project in the Marshwood Vale and Brit Valleys
• Continuing the legacy of the South Dorset Ridgeway Landscape Partnership and working with National Grid to place 8km of high voltage electricity transmission line underground.
• Landscape enhancements across the Wild Purbeck Nature Improvement Area by convening and chairing its partnership, and by promoting and administrating the Wytch Farm Landscape and Access Enhancement Fund .
• Managing visitor pressure and enhancing the visitor experience across the Jurassic Coast and inland.

Priorities – thematic

• Shaping a new agri-environment scheme that rewards farmers for delivering public goods
• Promotion of local food and drink products
• Improving people’s nature connection, particularly younger people, older people, those living with dementia and their carers, and isolated people
• Promotion of landscape management skills
• Using the skills of artists and arts organisations to help