Gardiner V., Matthews H. The changing geography of the United Kingdom

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

MIKE HULME

436

UKCIP (1998) Climate Change Impacts in the UK London: Department of the Environment, Transport

and the Regions, HMSO.

Wigley, T.M.L. (1998) ‘The Kyoto Protocol: CO

, CH

, temperature and sea-level implications’,

Geophys. Res. Letts. 25: 2285–8.

Woodworth, P.L., Tsimplis, M.N., Flather, R.A. and Shennan, I. (1999) ‘A review of the trends observed

in British Isles mean sea-level data measured by tide gauges’, Geophysical Journal International

136: 651–70.

Further reading

Cannell, M.G.R. and Pitcairn, C.E.R. (eds) (1993) Impacts of the Mild Winters and Hot

Summers in the UK in 1988–1990, London: UK Department of the Environment, HMSO.

CCIRG (1996) Potential Impacts and Adaptations of Climate Change in the United Kingdom,

London: Department of the Environment, HMSO.

Hulme, M. and Barrow, E.M. (eds) (1997) Climates of the British Isles: Present, Past and

Future, London: Routledge.

Hulme, M. and Jenkins, G.J. (1998) Climate Change Scenarios for the United Kingdom,

UKCIP Technical Note No.1, Norwich: Climatic Research Unit.

IPCC (1996) Climate Change 1995: the Science of Climate Change (J.T.Houghton,

L.G.Meiro Filho, B.A.Callendar, N.Harris, A.Kattenburg and K.Maskell, eds), Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Palutikof, J.P., Subak, S. and Agnew, M.D. (eds) (1997) Economic Impacts of the Hot Summer

and Unusually Warm Year of 1995, Norwich: UEA/DoE, Climatic Research Unit.

Wheeler, D. and Mayes, J.C. (eds) (1997) Regional Climates of the British Isles, London: Routledge.

437

Chapter 20

Conservation and preservation

Chris Park

Introduction

The United Kingdom has long prided itself for its wildlife and landscape, much of which

remains relatively natural, given the long history of land management and development within

these crowded islands. Very few places are more than about 10 kilometres from countryside,

and even in the most heavily built-up places there is abundant wildlife. The United Kingdom

also has a long and distinguished history of taking care of its wildlife and landscapes, not

simply in the twentieth-century planning and conservation legislation, but also through

enlightened land-use decision-making, public interest and involvement, and national pride in

natural heritage. The background to, and history of, such initiatives are clearly described in

the first two editions of this book (Curtis and Walker 1982; Curtis 1991).

Wildlife and landscape resources in the United Kingdom, as elsewhere, are subject to

many pressures, including agriculture, forestry, mineral working, transport and development.

Changes in land use almost inevitably affect wildlife and landscape, generally for the worse,

because they alter land cover and this in turn affects the visual appearance and ecological

integrity of the area in question. Yet, despite being one of the most densely populated countries

in the world, and after a long history of land-use changes and developments, the United

Kingdom remains essentially rural (see Chapter 11). More than 85 per cent of the land

remains free from major development and is still used for agriculture or forestry. But there

is relentless pressure to convert open land to other uses—particularly housing—in response

to changes in the size, structure and spatial distribution of the population (see Chapter 9),

changing lifestyles (see Chapters 12 and 13) and rising living standards and expectations

(see Chapters 13 and 14).

The focus in this chapter is on the radical changes which have occurred during the

1990s in the way wildlife and landscape in the UK are understood, interpreted, valued and

managed. Many of these, as we shall see, are products of both national and international

CHRIS PARK

438

trends that collectively reflect a move towards more sustainable development. In earlier

editions of this book, the equivalent chapter was titled ‘conservation and protection’.

‘Preservation’ is preferred here because it more appropriately describes the dynamic,

proactive nature of what happens.

Changing context

Attitudes to and the practice of wildlife conservation and landscape preservation in the

United Kingdom changed radically during the 1990s (Adams 1996). It would be difficult to

appreciate the causes, consequences and implications of these changes fully without reflecting

on the wider context within which environmental decision-making is set.

Two themes are particularly relevant here—the emergence of sustainable development

as a core objective in government policy, and restructuring of the institutional framework

for environmental management. In both cases government decision-making during the 1990s

had to reconcile tensions between national and international interests, in the light of

subsidiarity within the European Union and in the wake of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

What emerges is nothing less than a major sea-change in national interest in and

commitment to preserving its environmental heritage. The pace of change has quickened

since Tony Blair’s New Labour government came to power in May 1997, but the foundations

had already been set in place, and the main directions established, during the dying days of

John Major’s Conservative government.

Sustainable development

Without doubt the most significant environmental event during the 1990s was the United

Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) —widely referred to as

the Rio Earth Summit—which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. The

conference was the culmination of more than a decade of preparatory work, and it established

the tone, pace and direction of the international environmental agenda for the foreseeable

future (Park 1997). It built upon the success of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the

Human Environment, held in Stockholm, and the publication in 1984 of World Conservation

Strategy (jointly by the United Nations Environment Program, Worldwide Fund for Nature

and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature). The 1986 report Our Common

Future, produced by the World Commission on Environment and Development (widely

referred to simply as the Brundtland Report), was a major turning point. Brundtland defined

sustainable development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

By the late 1980s the axis of the environmental debate had moved away from nature

conservation per se, towards the sustainable development of all natural resources (Owens

1993). But it needed the focus and momentum provided by Rio to turn ideals into achievable

objectives. Participation in the Earth Summit helped to focus the UK government’s attention

on environmental issues. This commitment became tangible when the government signed

The Convention on Biological Diversity (designed to preserve plant and animal life), adopted

the Rio Declaration (a general statement of intent which recognises the need for sustainable

use of natural resources and environmental protection), and agreed to implement Agenda

21 (the action programme).

CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION

439

The biodiversity convention calls on countries to identify endangered species and

conserve the places where they live, and required each country to prepare a National Action

Plan or Biodiversity Strategy—which should be realistic, measurable, achievable and

realistic—by December 1993. Agenda 21—an agenda for the twenty-first century—was

designed to turn theory into practice by creating a national and international ‘blueprint for

action’ on environment and development.

The United Kingdom government took seriously and acted quickly upon the challenges

of Rio. Within less than two years it published Sustainable Development: The UK Strategy

(UK Government 1994a). The strategy is based on maintaining a buoyant economy, making

optimal use of non-renewable resources, sustainable use of renewable resources, and

minimum damage to the carrying capacity of the environment, human health and biodiversity.

It built upon the 1990 Environment White Paper This Common Inheritance, Britain’s

Environmental Strategy, which defined sustainable development as

living on the earth’s income rather than eroding its capital. It means keeping the

consumption of renewable natural resources within the limits of their replenishment.

It means handing down to successive generations not only man-made [sic] wealth,

but also natural wealth, such as clean and adequate water supplies, good arable land,

a wealth of wildlife, and ample forests.

(UK Government 1990:3)

Adoption of the principles of sustainable development has informed many aspects of

government decision-making since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, not just in terms of

approaches to environmental legislation but also in terms of the government’s own

housekeeping and resource use.

Institutional change

The 1990s have seen sweeping changes in the way that the UK government approaches the

challenges of conserving wildlife and preserving landscape and environment (Goldsmith

and Warren 1993). These have been driven partly by a need to conform to international

expectations and commitments (particularly post-Rio). But they also reflect a desire to take

seriously the challenges of sustainable development, and recognition of the need to be good

role models of enlightened environmental management (Sheail 1995).

The government is well aware of the importance of practising what they preach by trying

to adopt proper procedures and approaches in their own activities. One illustration of this latter

point is the radical change in attitude embodied in the ‘Greening government’ initiative introduced

in the early 1990s. In the 1990 White Paper This Common Inheritance the government committed

all departments to draw up strategies for environmental ‘good housekeeping’ by the end of

1992. Improvements in environmental performance were sought in all areas of government

activity, including green procurement, energy efficiency, conservation, waste management,

transport, land and estate management, environmental management systems, and compliance

with EMAS (the EC Eco-Management and Audit scheme).

Beyond its own backyard, the government has taken a proactive approach to the

challenges of sustainable development by restructuring the institutional machinery

responsible for environmental management. This is seen in the creation of the Environment

CHRIS PARK

440

Agency, English Nature, and the new Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Driving each change has been a desire to create agencies and structures which are reactive,

flexible and multi-sector, and which embody both the principles and practice of partnership

with stakeholders.

Typical of this new approach was the creation of the Environment Agency under

the Environment Act 1995 (Jewell and Steele 1996). The Act defines the aim of the agency

as ‘to engage in activities that protect or enhance the environment, within the context of

achieving sustainable development’. The agency took over the functions of its

predecessors—the National Rivers Authority, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Pollution,

Waste Regulatory Authorities and some parts of the Department of the Environment. The

prime objective of creating a multi-functional ‘super-agency’ was to harmonise better

and more effectively manage the UK environment. The end product is one of the most

powerful environmental regulators in the world, that provides a comprehensive approach

to the protection and management of the environment by combining the regulation of

land, air and water.

Although the Environment Agency is not directly responsible for conservation of

wildlife and preservation of landscape, it is required under the Environment Act 1995 to

contribute to the conservation of nature, landscape and archaeological heritage in fulfilling

all its functions. ‘Contribute’ in this sense means to have regard to conservation, and in

some cases to further and promote it, and to take into account the beauty and amenity of

the countryside when carrying out all of its functional responsibilities. Two other

responsibilities of the Agency which also impact upon wildlife and landscape are to provide

independent and authoritative views on environmental issues, and to liaise with

international counterparts and governments to help develop consistent environmental

policies.

The creation of English Nature in 1991 out of the former Nature Conservancy

Council under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 runs oddly counter to this more

harmonised, multi-function approach. The Countryside Commission was created under

the Countryside Act 1968 to ‘have regard to conserving the natural beauty and amenity

of the countryside’ although, as Curtis (1991) points out, its powers are mainly advisory

rather than executive, and it provides advice to government and carries out research on

landscape matters. Whilst the Countryside Commission remains the government’s

statutory adviser on countryside matters, English Nature is now the statutory service

responsible for looking after England’s wildlife, biodiversity and natural features. It is

the government’s main agent for nature conservation in England. It advises government,

promotes nature conservation, selects, establishes and manages National Nature Reserves

and—at a more local level—identifies and notifies Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

It also provides advice and information about nature conservation, supports and conducts

research, and works through and enables others engaged in conservation activities. The

new organisation was intended to be more proactive, progressive and customer-oriented

than its predecessor (Box 1994).

Treatment of nature conservation in England is curiously different from that in

Scotland and Wales, because the Countryside Council for Wales and Scottish Natural

Heritage perform all of the English Nature functions but also have responsibility for the

wider countryside which is discharged in England by the Countryside Commission.

Harmonisation and collaboration within and between countries is essential for both

CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION

441

practical and political reasons, and English Nature works closely with the Joint Nature

Conservation Committee, Scottish Natural Heritage, Environment and Heritage Service

(Northern Ireland) and the Countryside Council for Wales. This encourages a consistent

approach to nature conservation throughout Great Britain, and ensures a co-ordinated

approach towards meeting international obligations.

Over-arching these institutional changes, the new Labour government also recognised

the need for a broader-based, better-integrated and more forward-looking administrative

structure within which to embed its sustainable development aspirations. John Prescott,

Deputy Prime Minister, wasted no time in merging the Departments of Environment and

Transport in June 1997 to create a major new government department called the Department

of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). His objective was to create a single

super-agency Cabinet-level department, with integrated policies (including housing,

construction, regeneration, countryside and wildlife, environmental protection, local

government, planning, transport and health and safety). The Environment Agency is now

part of the DETR.

It remains to be seen whether the DETR helps or hinders the conservation of wildlife

and preservation of landscape, and how instrumental the creation of the super-agency might

be in realising the goal of sustainable development. Viewed from soon after the event it

holds great promise, and is a tangible sign of the new government’s commitment to

sustainable environmental management.

Inventory

One hallmark of the 1990s has been the better availability of information about the scale,

character and distribution of environmental resources within the United Kingdom, and

wildlife and landscape are no exception. Government, agencies and the general public now

have access to more comprehensive, more reliable and more up-to-date environmental

information than ever before thanks to better data collection and publication strategies.

Increasing use is being made of the World Wide Web as a way of making official statistics

and information widely available (often in downloadable format).

This information explosion is made possible by, and promotes, investment in

environmental monitoring and analysis. For both wildlife and landscape, the need for

reliable information bases is widely recognised. This includes baseline surveys to establish

what exists at present, where it exists, and its condition. It also includes monitoring of

changes through time, including repeated ground surveys and use of remote sensing

imagery. Catalysts include the need to establish benchmarks against which to assess future

changes, and to evaluate compliance with national and international standards and

agreements.

The most useful single initiative designed to generate information about the state of

the environment was the 1990 Countryside Survey (Barr et al. 1993) undertaken on behalf

of the Department of the Environment. The survey was carried out by the Institute of

Terrestrial Ecology and Institute of Freshwater Ecology (research institutes of the Natural

Environment Research Council), based on field surveys in 508 one-kilometre squares. It

followed similar surveys carried out in 1978 and 1984, and was designed to record the

present character and status of rural land cover, and changes through time. As such it provides

an important information baseline for animal and plant diversity and richness in different

CHRIS PARK

442

habitat types throughout Great Britain, and it can be used with earlier surveys to show pace

and pattern of change in rural land cover. It is intended to update the survey at the end of the

millennium.

In addition to the formal government surveys, a great deal of mapping and monitoring

of many species of wildlife—particularly rare plants, breeding birds and mammals (including

seals) —is undertaken by a wide range of organisations in the UK. Such surveys usually

rely heavily on the help of large teams of amateur and professional naturalists.

Government sources

During the 1990s the government started to publish a number of summary reports on the

state of the UK environment (both in paper and electronically). This reflects the

government’s commitment to more open governance and more accountable decision-

making, to partnership with users and stakeholders and to international initiatives and

agreements.

One of the earliest such reports was The UK Environment in Facts and Figures,

which was first published in 1992 by the Department of the Environment. It provides a

useful source of up-to-date statistics and information, intended for the non-specialist

reader. In seventeen chapters it deals with key environmental resources (air, land, water

and wildlife) and the pressures they face, as well as public attitudes towards the

environment, and government expenditure on it. The Environment Agency also produces

a State of the Environment report (in paper and on-line formats), covering England and

Wales. This is designed to offer ‘a snapshot look at the pressures on the environment

and how the quality of the environment has changed over the last twenty-five or so

years’.

Without doubt the most comprehensive government source is the Digest of

Environmental Statistics, published annually by the Government Statistical Service

(GSS). It brings together data on many aspects of environmental protection in the UK,

including statistics on key trends over time, on geographical patterns and variations,

and on performance in relation to policy targets and commitments (national and

international). Annual editions of the Digest contain chapters on air quality, climate

change, water quality and use, coasts and seas, radioactivity, noise, waste and recycling,

land and wildlife. Amongst many other things, the Digest includes useful summary

statistics on land cover (Table 20.1), preservation of landscape and conservation of

wildlife (Table 20.2).

Indicators of sustainable development

In March 1996 the government published a preliminary set of Indicators of Sustainable

Development. These indicators are intended to provide simple quantitative measures which

are easily understood, in order to help people (including those in government, industry, and

non-governmental organisations, as well as the general public) to better understand whether

or not development within the UK is becoming more sustainable. They should also help the

government to judge how well it is meeting its objectives as set out in the Sustainable

Development Strategy, and its international obligations of reporting to the UN Commission

on Sustainable Development.

CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION

443

The UK response is part of a wider international movement. Other institutions engaged

in trying to develop meaningful indicators of sustainable development include the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 1994), the World Bank

(1995), Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Communities) and the European

Environment Agency. As yet there is no international consensus on how environmental

indicators should be constructed and what they should cover, so at present each country and

agency involved is pursuing its own agendas and objectives. This might optimise user-

TABLE 20.1 Information about land cover published in Digest of Environmental Statistics (1996)

CHRIS PARK

444

TABLE 20.2 Information about preservation and conservation published in Digest of Environmental

Statistics (1996)

CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION

445

friendliness on home ground, but it makes international comparisons difficult if not

impossible.

Difficult choices are needed to make sure that the chosen environmental indicators

cover relevant themes, are workable and can be interpreted unambiguously. The UK response

has been to propose a set of around 120 indicators clustered within twenty-one families of

sustainable development issues. In alphabetical order the issues are—acid deposition, air,

climate change, economy, energy, fish resources, forestry, freshwater quality, land cover

and landscape, land use, leisure and tourism, marine, minerals extraction, overseas trade,

ozone layer depletion, radioactivity, soil, transport use, waste, water resources, wildlife and

habitats.

Two families of indicators from this list are most relevant to the present chapter—

land cover and landscape (Table 20.3), and wildlife and habitats (Table 20.4). Choice of

what indicators to use was influenced by various factors, including ease of measurement

and interpretation, and relevance to government objectives. Key objectives of the UK

government’s approach to wildlife and habitats are ‘to conserve as far as reasonably

possible the wide variety of wildlife species and habitats in the UK, and to ensure that

commercially exploited species are managed in a sustainable way’. Key objectives for

TABLE 20.3 Summary of environmental indicators: land cover and landscape

TABLE 20.4 Summary of environmental indicators: wildlife and habitats