He needs to get out more. OK he might live somewhere in mid-Wales but his head is still far too metropolitan. All landscapes are man made to some extent but Monbiot needs to spend time in the Lakes. No two valleys are the same, the fell tops are very different in such a small geographical area.
The situation has also changed significantly since Foot and Mouth over 10 years ago. Try walking up Deepdale - if he knows where this is, the changes in the vegetation there in just this time is incredible. Was up there eariler this year and with the breeze coming upthe valley it was like watching the effect of the wind on the sea.
What might he suggest as an alternative source of employment, more traditional pursuits such a quarrying or copper and lead mining?
Still if it means Monbiot stays away from the Lakes that's one positive result

I live in north Shropshire, I've walked all the Wainwrights and all the Welsh Hewitts.. so I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about. Monbiot is an idiot.

Mid wales is covered in a plague of wind turbines and North Wales and indeed South Wales too are in essence no different to the lakes, in that they're all well grazed by the sheepies..

you have to wonder what his agenda is..

Well I was raised near the Cotswolds and lived in the Channel Islands for the last 10 years before moving to Cumria and I have to say that the scenery of the Lake District is 2nd to none. I think you can agree that given my residential pedigree I'm pretty experienced in knowing what makes a glorious landscape and I always find the Lakes truly stunning.
I have to agree with Stig and say I think that Mr Monbiot is an idiot, well either that a Ovinaphob or a publicity hungry media whore who is in desperate need of his 15 mins.

Parts of the National Park are worthy of World Heritage status. Most of it is not. Some of the landscape and viewpoints are incredible and inspirational, but there are places like Asby Scar that are far more impressive (to my mind) but sadly these are outside Mr Leafes Ego trip. A good comparison is Hadrians Wall is (rightly) a world heritage site, but Carlisle is not.

The bid is a waste of (tax payers) money at a time when Cumbria Council cannot fix the potholes in the roads caused in part by the number of visitors.

However Monbiots piece was poorly judged - yes, upland sheep farming is damaging to the fells but this is a consequence of agricultural subsidy not a consequence of the National Park.

As a resident of Cumbria I feel that Monbiot comments about the Lake District are unfounded and disrespectful to residents of the Cumbria & Lake District.
Having lived and worked in the capital for 50 years I welcome the open spaces of the Lake District it is an area that does not need any alteration or introduction of other wild animals, from his comments I suspect that he is unhappy being in the country and prefers city life.
I would also point out that Dartmoor is another desolate area are you proposing to change that as well, or why not some of Scotland's desolate areas. In fact why don't you just concrete over everything and create one gigantic concrete city where it appears you would be happiest.
All I can say to Mr Monbiot is to stay out of Cumbria if you don't like it and leave our beautiful county alone.

Well, George Monbiot has rattled a few cages, hasn't he? Good!

Hill land is not an endless resource, simply there to be exploited by grazing sheep and deer and by tramping over it. Pearsall described the science and the issues in Mountains and Moorland, more than fifty years ago, and showed some of the measures, particularly reforestation with mixed woodland, which will put back some of the biodiversity that has been lost. We need to understand and act on his thinking, to look after the land, not just exploit it.

The John Muir Trust has shown the way in which land can be managed - for example in Coire Dhorrcail on Ladhar Bheinn. Have a look at the JMT site at http://www.jmt.org/home.asp, or (if you really must) go and see that bit of Knoydart.

You could visit the Carrifran Wildwood (http://www.carrifran.org.uk/) to see another aspect of the same idea, or even watch Cwm Idwal change, now that most of the sheep have gone.

No-one wants the whole of our wild land to be turned to woodland - George Monbiot is simply arguing that we should be working much harder to improve the degraded biodiversity of the hills, rather than looking for accolades which, by implication, endorse our present exploitation.

What's so wrong about that? It's worth considering the issues. It doesn't justify personal abuse, at any rate.

The problems with the Lake District are not caused by sheep or sheep farming. The LDNPA has turned its back on conservation and maintainence of the landscape in favour of commercialisation and exploitation. The Lake District 'Theme Park'will never attain world heitage status so long as the arrogant, unaccountable, unelected quango that is the LDNPA are calling the shots.
The Adventure Capital dream is a personal one of Richard Leafe it is neither wanted nor supporteed by the people who live and work here. Their masterplan for regeneration has all to do with funding criteria and nothing to do with consultation or the views of local people. The latest annual report on the state of the park is full of self congratulatory, unsubstantiated statements rather like the last report.
Wildlife isn't profitable so don't expect any in the Lakes.

As someone who has lived and worked in the Lake District for most of my life yet travelled extensively , I have to agree in part with George Monbiot.

Yes the Lake District has stunning scenery with a huge variety of geological landscapes in close proximity, with no two valleys being the same. But as for the variety and extent of wildlife that an area this size could and should support then Mr Monbiot is correct - the Lake District is a wildlife desert. Mr Monbiot's language maybe isn't what the authorities want to hear, but his arguement is supported by the data.

Beautiful though the Lake District is - and it is my favourite walking area - he is right in that the area that we now walk and gaze upon is very man-made having been heavily influenced by our activities over centuries - mining, sheep farming and more recently tourism. It is as it is and whilst a slightly more varied habitat with fewer sheep might be welcome in places, overall this suggests that it is a dynamic landscape which has evolved and which must continue to evolve in a sustainable way. The natural habitat needs adequate protection but the area must also sustain the people who make the Lake District their home and workplace.

Whilst walking in the solitude of the more remote areas is wonderful, we should also be prepared to allow sympathetic developments elsewhere such as the Adventure Capital concept. It is a little alarmist to refer to this as a 'theme park' which conveys the wrong idea. Alton Towers it is not and I am sure that very few people would have this in mind.... You have only to travel to mountain regions elsewhere in Europe to see how peaceful walking and mountaineering and climbing can co-exist very well with more adventurous activities. For example, via ferrata do not spoil the Dolomites, far from it, so why should a few routes in some parts of the Lakes spell total destruction?

We must ensure the area is well protected and manage visitors well but equally we must guard against 'preserving' the Lakes in aspic on the basis of a vocal minority who although well intentioned, miss the point slightly in that there are ways of enjoying areas in ways different to them, and that they need not be mutually exclusive if properly managed.

The Lake District does sell itself as an area of outstanding beauty and tranquility, however the LDNPA masterplan for the regeneration of Bowness Bay and the Glebe and the masterplan for the flagship Visitor Centre at Brockhole is diametrically opposed to this concept.
Indeed both areas have for years been neglected in spite of pleas by the councils and local communities to the LDNPA to conserve and maintain them.
The plan now is to heavily commercialise both these areas to the detriment of local traders and the landscape.
These plans have the hallmarks of a large urban development company with access to public funds which will end up 'resting' in offshore accounts.

"The LDNPA has turned its back on conservation and maintainence of the landscape in favour of commercialisation and exploitation" says Livint lakes.

Not true - they kicked out the zip wire application at Honister Mine.

I'm not so concerned about the Bowness developments - it's a honeypot area where the tea and a pee coach brigade land regularly. Keep them happy in that small area and most of the rest of the National Park can be enjoyed in relative peace and tranquillity.

1. "The LDNPA has turned its back on conservation and maintainence of the landscape in favour of commercialisation and exploitation" says Livint lakes.

Not true - they kicked out the zip wire application at Honister Mine."

- It's perhaps worth remembering however, that the the National Park executive officers - especially the Chief Executive - were largely supportive of the zipwire bid - it was the ordinary council members representing local communities who swung the vote against.

2. "The situation has also changed significantly since Foot and Mouth over 10 years ago. Try walking up Deepdale - if he knows where this is, the changes in the vegetation there in just this time is incredible."

- Much of the limited improvement in the vegetation in these areas has come about due to active management agreements between statutory conservation bodies and hill farmers to reduce sheep numbers - rather than the temporary effect of F&M.

Many of the comments here appear to be confusing landscape with biodiversity.

You can have ecologically impoverished landscapes that look absolutely beautiful - large parts of mid-Wales, the Pennines and even many parts of the Andes spring to mind. But their biodiversity has nevertheless been vastly reduced due to centuries of over-grazing leading to concomitant problems of soil and peat erosion, encouragement of invasive species and structural effects such as increased risk of flash flooding.

The point Monbiot was making, albeit in a polemical style, was that it's perhaps a tad hypocritical of the folk behind the UNESCO bid to present this as though it was as good thing.

George Monbiot never suggested (see post somewhere above) concreting over the whole of the landscape. And to suggest he should stay out of Cumbria as a city boy doesn't help much regarding attracting tourism, ie. industry to help contribute to the local economy and reduce the migration of youth to the city.

The Lake District is my favourite walking destination in the world, and I agree with George's points raised in the article. Yes, the landscape is beautiful there, but is it there for our pleasure for the aesthetic?

Having walked through wild flower meadows in mountain regions abroad - wild flowers up to my chest with countless insects, birds, marmots, ibex, eagles and aware of the presence of bears, wolves and venomous snakes, the smells of the richness of the immediate environment etc., I totally agree with Monbiot.

There's only one eagle left in the Lake District. If that isn't a symbol of the degraded ecology, then I don't know what is.

Somewhat bizarrely, Richard Leafe recognises the remarkable qualities of the Lake District, and yet he has not objected to turning a significant part of it into an underground dump for high and intermediate nuclear waste. 75% of the search area of the two councils which volunteered is within the Lake District National Park, and yet this has brought no comment from Richard Leafe. Has Richard decided to keep his head down in the hope of another lucrative government job. That certainly worked for Danny Alexander.

While the LDNPA busies itself with trivia such as objecting to plastic windows, it refuses to acknowledge the elephant in the room - a potential underground nuclear dump the size of a small city.

Time to wake up Richard...

Poision the sheep! Let mother nature reclaim whats hers,and we will have a beautiful britain again! Not a wind swept heath land from the Scottish highlands to the Cotswolds, just to satisfy the unjustified need to continue the heritage of sheep farming and its hooligan like destruction of our country!

In reply to 'Stigofthenest';

If you cared to read his book 'Feral', George is just as scathing, if not more so, of the welsh uplands, an area he describes as a desert.

All you Lake District locals or regular visitors need to realise that just because you have fond memories or experiences of the place, that does not remove the fact that it is a depleted environment with about 10% the biodiversity it should hold.

'Mr Real', I strongly agree with what you are saying.

A few deer and a couple of birds of prey does not make for a species-rich environment, and a few scatterings of trees and ugly forestry plantation does not count as woodland in my book.

A few selfish farmers who's only excuse is to 'preserve their way of life and culture' are robbing an entire nation of ecological health. Sheep farmers, your days of profitless and selfish land use are numbered, and thank god for that.

The Cheap John Brown Jerseys Wholesale retail online right now, wholesale fashionable sports nike NFL jerseys from China are selling.
we offer Cheap Ronnie Hillman Jerseys Wholesale fast shipment & good quality
to you.

Luis Severino Jersey China | Take Custom Baseball Jerseys,and enjoy our Kyrie Irving
Youth Jersey 79% off.