Wild Land News no 62, Winter 2004/2005

John Muir Trust conference: Sustaining Wild Land Article

Fiona Anderson reports on a high-profile event

This conference was held at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from October 21-23. SWLG was represented on the first day only. The conference was introduced by Dick Balharry, Chairman of JMT, followed by a very personal message of welcome and congratulations to the Trust from its Patron, the Prince of Wales, on video. A Ministerial address was scheduled to follow but, significantly, no such person appeared and the slot was filled instead by Linda Macmillan from Yosemite. She emphasised the connectedness of everything in the biotic universe, as John Muir had done, and that we must make decisions based on the requirements of the land or environment resource, not on those of special interests. That way Benefits will extend beyond Boundaries - this may possibly be easier to achieve, I thought, in USA's extensive nationally protected parks and monuments than on this crowded island, though the message is still worthwhile.

International context

The morning session of speakers was on the International Perspective. Lawrence Downing, ex President of the Sierra Club, spoke on the work and legacy of John Muir, followed by John Beatty, a naturalist, film maker and photographer who presented a superb slide show of images from Europe, Africa and South America, accompanied by comments based on his first-hand experience of the environmental issues and problems. He considered preserving the biodiversity of species is the best way to sustain wild land - and to travel across the globe to see unique places is indefensible (except perhaps in his case!)

Nick Hanley came next, a town planner, former Countryside Commission officer and Strategy Coordinator for the Norfolk Broads Authority, (noting the extent to which protected national areas were confined, until the Broads was designated, to the mountains), and now Head of the Nature and Biodiversity Unit of the European Commission in Brussels. He emphasised that many established, if not "wild" environments in Europe are likely to disappear, such as Alpine hay meadows or the Norfolk Broads itself, and require continuing management to retain their diversity.

The EU is in the lead internationally in establishing an ecological network called Natura 2000 to preserve species, and in setting a target in 2001, the Gothenburg Objective aims not simply to slow, but actually to halt the decline in biodiversity by the end of this decade. Natura 2000 does not comprise sample areas, but a full network of 200 habitats for over 400 species covering 18% of EU territory. Threats from agricultural intensification are lessening as single farm Agri-Environment payments replace productivity subsidies in more countries. He put the crucial question in asking how critical the concept of wilderness or wild land is to the Objective? He conceded it has a role to play, but the concept must have broad appeal, with scope for eco-tourism, maintainig livelihoods, water catchment management, climate management etc. Emotive values are important - like wolves, an icon for wildness. Natura 2000 protects the habitat for 2500 wolves to roam in NE Spain and elsewhere.

The question and answer session which followed emphasised the role of management and spreading resources and facilities, not only to defuse tourism pressures from honeypot areas like Yosemite (or Loch Lomond), but to spread the load to a wider area and balance the economic benefits with the protection of wild land. Compromise might be necessary - allow some development providing a pristine reserve is set aside. How important is size of area protected? The redemptive solace of wild land can be experienced by some people by venturing only 200m or so from their cars! Cairngorm mountain railway and the cable car up Mount Teide in Tenerife, where pedestrian access from the top is strictly controlled in both cases, were cited as (rather controversial) examples of management to protect wild land. Each sensitive area should have its own management plan, with the zoning backed up by resources and facilities.

Wind-farm controversy

On the use of wild land in Scotland (which was more a subject for the following day) there was no dispute that government support for the Kyoto Agreement on Climate Change should not mean that wind farms should be sited in an unstructured, ad hoc way. These developments are only taking place because of the public subsidies the electricity companies receive, so Government ought to direct them better on strategic location.

The lucrative subsidies being handed to vulnerable landowners and crofting communities do not help wild land either, and are being paid for ultimately by taxpayers. Mr Hanley was asked directly whether there is any chance of an EU Wild Land Directive that would help put pressure on the Government to direct wind farm location. The answer effectively was negative (owing undoubtedly to its excessively value-laden nature), but there is a lot of scope, he said, to make more use of the (scientific-based) Habitats Directive, as many wildlife sites occupy wild land, and the Environmental Assessment Directive for planning applications is about to be enhanced to require more strategic assessment.

The term rewilding of wild land was introduced, with examples in Europe of natural flood basin control, moving river walls back 100m, reclaiming alluvial forests, though reforestation on hill land is more problematic because of the need to exclude deer and sheep. Removal of bothies and bulldozed track restoration have the same purpose.

In the afternoon Bob Aitken spoke on the evolution of the wild land idea, attributes, issues and the progress of policy definition and initiatives in recent years. He mentioned a significant statement of the Californian Sierra Club : "Wild land will be protected in proportion to the number of people who know its value at first hand." He concluded that the NSA system (National Scenic Areas) will be the main mechanism for integrating enhanced management of wild areas in Scotland within existing systems. But we need to work much harder to secure greater political commitment for wild land.

Cameron McNeish followed with his expected inspirational approach - it was a pity that he was preaching largely to the converted at that conference. He emphasised the importance in Scotland of bringing deer numbers down and the need for new legislation to achieve this. The current pressures for wind farms amount to the mass industrialisation of wild land. There should be a moratorium on turbine height over 50m and an Energy Forum should be set up to include local community interests, especially about financial incentives and National Grid requirements.

Wild land not a main political concern

Finally, John Thomson, The Director of Strategic Operations (West) at SNH and a former Head of Planning Division in the Scottish Office spoke on the likely future directions of Government policy towards wild land. Ultimately this was discouraging. The most hopeful thing was that the UK is close to ratifying a European Landscape Convention, which will "provide a significant platform for wild land" as it will value all landscapes. He said that no Minister had come to address the conference because they do not see the relevance of wild land to their main political concerns. They have a duty to save us from the consequences of climate change, and the concept of wild land is elitist or even unhelpful. It is all too easy to take this resource, or natural heritage generally, for granted. In reviewing the conflicts between rural and urban agendas, he said that concern with wild land is not generally considered to be a rural issue, where people are more concerned with depopulated landscapes and meeting renewable energy targets.

On key areas for action an SNH review of NSA designations is very relevant, but this was started in 1997 and Ministers have not dealt with it to date. Even more worrying is the review within 2 years of NPPG 14 (National Planning Policy) where there may be some falling back on the encouraging definition of wild land that was given there. He acknowledged that a more strategic approach is needed to the location of wind farms, and that amendment of the GPDO (General Permitted Development Order) as affecting bulldozed tracks is a possibility - at least one consultation has been carried out on it but it was never brought to a conclusion. On land management he considered there is a possible case for extending incentives for positive land management to achieve public aspirations, and that links could be strengthened between biodiversity objectives in European designations and wild land

On the wider picture there is a strong need to:

reinforce linkages in the public mind between wild land, tourism and other economic alternatives;
to promote better recognition of the value of remote coastal areas and wild areas close to population centres (which are not recognised to date in the NSAs); and
encourage debate to increase consensus on the value of wild land.

I conclude that this JMT conference was very worthwhile and well set up - with a first-class Charity Concert in the evening. But there was a need for a wider audience, such as educational, power generation and rural community interests, to have been invited on the first day when national and international perspectives and policies were being discussed. And as for the prognosis - we still have a long way to go!

The conference concluded with a five-point DECLARATION FOR THE WILD urging UK and devolved governments actively to demonstrate that they recognise the importance of large areas of wild land and of all wild places, as an integral part of our national culture and heritage by:

Encouraging and supporting people of all ages and of all backgrounds to experience and understand the value of wild places, for the benefit of their health and spiritual well being.

Supporting local communities and land managers by developing a new, broader range of grants and incentive schemes to help restore and enhance wild land.

Reviewing planning policy and legislation to strengthen the protection and enhancement of wild land.

Establishing a forum to agree a national strategy for the appropriate siting of renewable energy developments.

Ratifying the Council of Europe's Landscape Convention and embracing the responsibility to protect our national landscape heritage.