Scotland's wild land, such as this around Ben Loyal, is shrinking
Campaigners are calling for a complete rethink on Britain’s wildernesses in a bid to protect them from further development.
The John Muir Trust says there should be a new Wild Land designation in Scotland, where man-made intrusions are increasingly encroaching on wilderness areas.
The trust also says England and Wales’s national parks should be extended and new ones set up to improve protection of the shrinking wild areas south of the border.
The JMT has launched two petitions in support of the campaign, one aimed at the Scottish Parliament and the other at the UK Parliament in Westminster. The Scottish one asks people to support the conservation charity’s call on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to improve protection for the best areas of wild land by introducing a new national environmental designation.
The petition to the House of Commons urges support for the trust’s plea to the House of Commons to urge the Government to extend national park boundaries, or put in place new national parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty, to ensure improved environmental protection for the best areas of wild land.
A map produced by Steve Carver of Leeds University shows Britain’s wild land on a sliding scale of remoteness to development. Wales’s wildest land is to be found in Snowdonia; England’s in the western Lake District, the Howgills and northern Pennines. In Scotland, which has the most wilderness, the north-west Highlands the Cairngorms, parts of the Western Isles and Shetland are home to the largest areas of wild land.
Three ‘ambassadors’, mountaineers Simon Yates and Jamie Andrew, and broadcaster and journalist Cameron McNeish, have added their support for the campaign.
Helen McDade, head of policy for the John Muir Trust said: “We aim to use these petitions to send a clear signal to the Government that many thousands of people care passionately about wild land and want to see it given greater protection. Thousands have expressed concerns about proposed major developments in much-loved wild areas such as the Cairngorms and Snowdonia national parks, as well as the Western Isles and Shetland.
“It is vitally important that everyone who cares about our landscape adds their voice to our campaign through signing this petition.”
Scottish Natural Heritage figures show that the amount of land in Scotland unaffected by visual intrusion fell from 41 per cent to 31 per cent between 2002 and 2008. Wind turbines, electricity pylons, tracks and housing were major factors in the decline.
Details of the two petitions and more information on the campaign can be seen on the John Muir Trust website.
Evan Owen
27 June 2010Yes please, keep the 'special' designation for places where people do not live, for landscapes which people have not formed, yes, the 'wilderness'. However I can't see much wilderness in Snowdonia, it is covered in man made relics such as stone walls, neolithic circles, iron age forts, Roman ruins and of course the English castles, oh and the UK's highest slum.
Chris Woodley-Stewart
28 June 2010I noted the reference to the 'northern pennines' in this article. It's worth pointing out that the North Pennines is already 'protected' as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of the family of 40 AONBs in England and Wales.
We very much support the protection of our remaining wild places (whilst acknowledging that their wildness is for the most part more perceived than actual, given the influence of humankind on our land for several thousand years). However, it's one thing to designate an area, but quite another to then ensure that the designation brings the protection that it should.
In the current economic and political climate we need to do all we can to stress the value to society that our wild places provide. This is clearly an economic value as well as a spiritual and 'well-being' value. Despite a number of studies into the value of protected areas and other landscapes, we collectively need to be much better at saying why wild land and other rural landscapes matter to society. Getting the language right will be crucial, and much of the terminology of 'ecosystem services provision' leaves the public and politicians somewhat cold.
This campaign is valuable for its simple expression of the fact that our wild places are important to us all.
In the North Pennines the conservation of a sense of wildness and remoteness and is an important aspect of our work and this relative wildness and remoteness is one of the principal special qualities of our AONB. Our programmes of work in this field include major projects to conserve and enhance peatlands and upland hay meadows, whilst our involvement in the landuse planning process is often focussed on conserving the 'wildness' of what is arguably England's wildest place. You can visit our website www.northpennines.org.uk to find out more about the North Pennines and about the work of the AONB Partnership.
Chris Woodley-Stewart
Director, North Pennines AONB Partnership
Bob
28 June 2010Steve Carver, Andy Evans and Steffen Fritz admit their definition of wilderness is based on perception. The paper can be viewed at the following address: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/934/1/evansaj7.pdf
Although it is difficult to tell from the scale of the map as presented on the internet, it would appear that the wildest 10 per cent of England's area is around Cross Fell, the western Howgills, and part of Northumberland, which is why we described them as the nothern Pennines rather than the North Pennines which is, as Chris rightly points out, already an AONB. The 'most wild' areas don't coincide with the North Pennines AONB boundaries.
Bob Smith
Editor
Paula
29 June 2014The rights and feedoms of individuals to own and mange their own land should always be protected first. The importance of conservation is unquestionable, but we must all remeber that the right to roam and the freedom of the individual to choose to live in rural areas must not be undermined by the need for conservation.
The Human environment and settlements must always be a part of and incorporated into wildland areas. We have roamed the lands of the world for thousands of years. We must endevore to protect the rights of the individual, while restricting the damaging use of harmful technologies such as microwave technologies that damage the DNA of all Plants and Animals in all environments. Microwave technologies such as mobile phones, electircity and gas smart meters, televisions and other new technologies. They must be banned from all areas of habitat including human habits. If we are truely to protect our natural environments companies such as Monsanto who produce genetically modifies seads and the prowerful poison Round UP used to kill weeds must also be banned globally to provent the development of cancers in our native animal poplation and also to protect human populations too.
I walking into our local pet shop to find that they placed mirowave tacking chips into the rabbits that they sell. The staff were completely unaware of the fact that such devices cause cancerous tumors. We need to urgently educate the public to the danagers that our Governments and Big Business are expossing us to. We are being mislead in the name of technolical advancements and greed due to the vast amounts of money both Big Business and Governments make at our and our environments expense.
Please read all you can about microwave chips and microvwave technologies, this information has been kept from the public for over 50 years. If you love and value your freedom, and the welfare of your children and their children you will research this for yourself and find that the world is not all that it seems to be.