1. Rural settlements in the UK
Lesson objective - Recognise how rural areas can be improved to make them more sustainable

2. What is the Eden Project?
The Eden Project in St Austell in Cornwall is based in a worked-out clay pit, which houses buildings including two vast greenhouses (biomes) and the Core – an education centre. The biomes are homes for plants from around the world and are used to explore our dependence on nature, and to illustrate the way in which people form an intrinsic part of the natural world.

4. What does the Eden Project do?
The Eden Project does much more than offer a memorable day out in Cornwall. Eden is also a charity and social enterprise.
Running social and environmental projects on our doorstep and around the world
Creating unforgettable learning experiences for students
Doing valuable research into plants and conservation
Making sure we run our operations in the greenest possible way.

5. Impact of the Eden Project on the area
Since the beginning of the Project Eden has brought over £900 million to the local economy. Tourists questioned say they were ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ influenced by Eden to holiday in Cornwall.
Eden employs nearly 500 staff, and estimates that a further 3,000 jobs have been sustained locally due to its continuing success. The benefits are also felt by Eden’s 2,500 local suppliers and a range of other businesses such as hotels, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, pubs and taxis.

6. Other rural strategies
Greenbelts

7. England’s Greenbelts
A Greenbelt is an area of open land around a city, which is protected from development.
Greenbelts were set up 50 years ago, and now cover 13% of England
Greenbelts have 3 main functions
Check the sprawl (spreading) of cities like London and Birmingham
To protect the surrounding countryside from further development
To prevent neighbouring cities from merging into each other.

8. Have Greenbelts been a success?
In some respects yes, they have prevented urban sprawl around cities like Manchester, London and Birmingham
Most of the designated Greenbelt has remained intact for the past 50 years.
BUT
Over 1100 hectares of green belt has been lost each year since 1997
Nearly 50,000 homes have been built on greenbelts
Greenbelts have also caused ‘leap-frogging’ where commuter towns grow outside the greenbelt, like Chelmsford in Essex
Commuter town (a town that has many people living in it that work far away).

9. Other rural strategies
National Parks

10. Case Study: The Lake District
The Lake District National Park is one of twelve National Parks in the United Kingdom. As you can see from the map, The Lake District is situated in North-West England.

11. In more detail…
The Lake District lies entirely within Cumbria and is one of England’s few mountainous regions as well as including 15 lakes, which is why it attracts a large number of visitors

12. History
The Lakes, as the region is also known, were made famous during the early 19th Century by the poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets.
The park covers 230,000 ha of land and is dominated by formations left by the last Ice Age.

13. Landscapes Limestone Pavement Moorland Tarns & Lakes Marshes Woodland
The Lake District hosts a very wide variety of landscapes including…
Limestone
Pavement
Moorland
Tarns & Lakes
Marshes
Woodland

14. Industry
Historically, farming, particularly sheep farming was the major industry in this region.
Another major Lakeland industry was the mining of copper, lead, barite, graphite and slate from the 16th to the 19th century.
However, tourism has now grown rapidly and become the area’s primary source of income.

15. Purposes of the Authority
The Lake District National Park Authority was established in 1951.
As set out in the Environment Act 1995, its purposes are…
1. To conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the Park
2. To promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the Park by the public
3. To seek to foster the economic and social well being of local communities within the park by working closely with the agencies and local authorities.

16. Pressures…
With over 12 million visitors attracted to the area every year, there are obviously going to be certain pressures.
People are the biggest threat to areas like the Lake District as they can…
DROP LITTER
ERODE FOOTPATHS
TRAMPLE ON PLANTS
SCARE THE ANIMALS
ETC, ETC…

17. Management
If these problems weren’t controlled, the area would lose its natural beauty, so this is where the work of the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) comes in.
They have to follow what is known at the National Park Management Plan which is a national strategy used in all UK national Parks and include rules and regulations on everything to do with the park from the Historic environment to traffic and transport.

18. Tree Preservation
The Authority protects important trees through tree preservation orders which make it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot or wilfully damage or destroy any tree without permission.

19. Rangers
The Ranger team provides a countryside management service for the community by…
Contact with residents, visitors, interest groups, parish and district councils and other organisations
Links between the community and other specialists in the LDNPA
Rights of Way monitoring, management and protection
Implementation of conservation projects
Practical land management
Lake monitoring byelaw enforcement and management
Visitor and recreation management
Work with the Lake District Volunteers Service

20. Exam technique Levelled response- Level 1 – Basic – 1 or 2 marks
Using named examples, examine the success of strategies to improve rural areas (6)
Levelled response-
Level 1 – Basic – 1 or 2 marks
Level 2 – Clear – 3 or 4 marks
Level 3 – Detailed – 5 or 6 marks