Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments1 8. Case studies 1: Wild Britain Lecture outline: n The Cairngorms n Plynlimon n North Pennines n Workshop: Guest Lecture – Toby Aykroyd on “Wild Britain”

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments2 1. Introduction n Where is wild Britain? n Eye-balling the blank bits! n Systematic mapping - Wilderness criteria? Remoteness from settlement/access Naturalness of landscape/ecosystem - Using GIS and spatial analysis Wilderness Continuum Concept Multi-scale, multi-criteria evaluation

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments3 Protecting what’s left n Maps show significant patches of remaining wild land - the Cairngorm in Scotland - Plynlimon in Wales - North Pennines in England n Protected area status - National Parks, AONB, NNR, etc. - some unprotected wild areas target areas for protection target areas for re-wilding

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments4 2. The Cairngorms n High mountain plateau area - deeply dissected granite upland - heavily glaciated troughs and corries - highest area of land above 4000’ in Britain

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments5 n Management issues: - conservation of natural landscape NNR and new National Park status SSSI, SAC and SPA status - traditional economy stalking and sport fishing sheep and forestry - recreation/tourism economy skiing mountaineering sight-seeing - threats 4WD access tracks renewable energy developments 2. The Cairngorms (cont’d)

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments6 3. Plynlimon n Cambrian Mountains - “The Green Desert of Wales” - wild and unpopulated uplands between Snowdonia and Brecon Beacons NPs - rural depopulation

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments7 n Management issues: failed national park proposal unprotected status threats from piecemeal development e.g. renewable energy - Recent calls for AONB status - Cefn Croes wind farm northern part of Plynlimon ft wind turbines 3. Plynlimon (cont’d)

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments8 4. North Pennines n North Pennines AONB “a national asset, something which we have a duty to conserve and enhance for present and future generations” n Designated area: - Britain’s 1 st European GeoPark - multiple wildlife/conservation designations - part of Natura2000 network - Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) - support rare, endangered or vulnerable natural habitats and species of plants or animals (other than birds) - Special Protection Areas (SPA) - support significant numbers of wild birds and their habitats

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments9 n Established in almost 2000 square kilometres between the National Parks of the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland - second largest of the 41 AONBs - “one of the most remote and unspoilt places in England …truly remote, wild countryside and it is precisely this sense of wildness and remoteness which imbues much of the area with its character. There are few places in England where you can walk all day without crossing a road, but it is still possible here, such as in the south west of the AONB on the wild moorland plateau and summits between Hartside and Stainmore Common” (NPAONB, 2004) 4. North Pennines (cont’d)

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments10 n Management issues: - piecemeal erosion of rural character - need for robust policies and clear action in conserving landscape quality while promoting rural development - policy guidelines aimed at: the conservation and enhancement of the landscape, its wildlife and its cultural heritage need for high quality baseline information on the spatial patterns of landscape quality that can be used to inform, develop and implement the policies through practical management actions. 4. North Pennines (cont’d)

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments11 Reading Taylor, P. (2005) Beyond Conservation: a wildland strategy. Chapters 2,3 & 5

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments12 Workshop Guest lecture: Toby Aykroyd on “Wild Britain”

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments13 Task n Online wilderness mapping: - erness erness - scotland/ scotland/

Lecture 8GEOG3320 – Management of Wilderness Environments14 Next week Case studies 2: Re-wilding the uplands n Moor Trees n Carrifran Wildwood n Wild Ennerdale n Workshop: guest lecture – Alan Watson Featherstone on “Trees for Life”