Dartmoor’s new chief executive is a keen walker and mountain biker.

Kevin Bishop, who took up the post with the national park authority on Monday, was formerly director of environment and regeneration with the Welsh Local Government Association.

Dr Bishop has a PhD in land management and a degree in geography. He served three years on the Countryside Council for Wales and was a member of both the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ committee for Wales and the Council for National Parks Welsh advisory group.

He said: “I am looking forward to the challenge of being the new chief executive for Dartmoor National Park Authority.

“It is my dream job but I also realise that I have to turn that dream into a reality. My aim is to ensure that the national park authority helps to maintain the national park as a living landscape where people and nature exist in harmony and where there is a positive relationship between landscape and livelihood.”

Dr Bishop is married with two children.