Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 18.2
Competing land uses in North Yorkshire
Moors National Park.
affected use and management of land on two-
thirds of the farms surveyed, and that only one-
fifth of farmers had actually been restricted in their
farming activities by the presence of an SSSI.
Nevertheless, other surveys show that damage to
SSSIs continues, with 10 per cent at serious risk
and with the Nature Conservancy Council in
England and Wales spending 15 per cent of its
1991 budget on management agreements (Splash
and Simpson 1994). Compulsory purchase of
threatened sites or use of payments as nature
conservation gain under the Town and Country
Planning Acts may be more effective (Boucher and
Whatmore 1993).
National parks authorities have compulsory
powers to require public access to land in the
parks, but over large areas access is often difficult,
especially on privately owned farmland. The
solution adopted in the North York Moors has
been investment in promotion and management
of routes giving a variety of recreational
experiences in different park landscapes. A national
trail, the Cleveland Way, is being complemented
by a network of 'regional' and local routes. The
nature of these landscapes is being modified by
management agreements and direct purchase of
land by the park authority. The example shown in
Figure 18.3 demonstrates how former moorland,
now converted largely to enclosed arable land, is
being developed into broadleaved parkland
landscape open for public access, and combined
with areas of heath or common land. Conflicts
between different types of recreation are still
prevalent, though, despite zoning of areas for
noisier pursuits. Erosion by motor-bike scrambling
is a particular problem.
Source:
Based on Statham 1993.
(DATI), has been one way forward (Greenwood
1994; see Box 18.2).
One of the prime management strategies in
ensuring the provision of attractive, 'unspoilt'
countryside for recreation has been to pay
landowners compensation for maintaining
designated environmental features (Swales 1994).
Management agreements have been used to
influence tree planting, heather management,
maintenance of stone walls and barns, and the
conservation of important wildlife habitats. They
have been operated by national parks authorities
but also widely adopted elsewhere, as in the case of
the UK's system of sites of special scientific interest
(SSSIs), or for managing the countryside in an
environmentally friendly fashion, e.g. the EU's
environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) scheme
(Robinson 1994) and the countryside stewardship
scheme in England and Wales (Morris and Potter
1995). Geographers have contributed both to
monitoring the effects of these policies and to
policy decisions on the designation of areas for
conservation, notably in the ESAs (Whitby 1994).
Mather's (1993) work on farmers with SSSIs
on their land revealed that the designation had not
CONCLUSION
Management of tourism and recreation in rural
areas has frequently been regarded as a
mechanism for minimising visitor pressure while
maximising economic benefit to rural
communities. Much research effort has been
directed at different aspects of this management
issue, from how to assess demand to how to
