Countryside Alliance - love the countryside

The landscape of the British countryside is man-made and man-maintained. Good management of the environment results from vibrant local rural economies and communities, and the evidence suggests that the greatest contributors to the integrity of the landscape are those communities who derive their livelihoods or their ways of life from it, notably farmers and country sports enthusiasts.

For example, on average each UK farmer puts aside £1,400 per annum for activities such as the care and planting of woodland, maintaining traditional buildings, creating ponds and wildlife areas, maintaining hedges and stonewalls13. Country sports enthusiasts themselves also undertake a large amount of unpaid conservation management throughout the year - such as hedge-laying, river management and tree planting - benefiting biodiversity and other countryside users. Policies or legislation intended to compromise or end country sports would not only be unjust to those rural communities directly penalised but would deprive the rest of society of these activities' many benefits to the fabric and biodiversity of the land.

Both UK and foreign tourists to our countryside are seeking a distinctive experience rooted in local and regional culture and often wish to engage in a specialist activity/soft adventure. If rural tourism is to be sustainable in the longer run without destroying the very thing which generates it - the landscape and its market towns and villages - some tough policy choices will be needed on where, and what kind of, tourism should be encouraged or facilitated. We believe that UK Government policy should build in a presumption in favour of encouraging high value rather than high volume tourism wherever viable - this is what our geographically-constrained countryside is far better set-up to provide.

DEFRA is looking to review the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which has proven to be rather inflexible over the last 20 years and is now at odds with a number of other pieces of more recent legislation and Directives. This would be a major exercise, involving the consolidation and repeal of a dozen or so laws. The Alliance endorses the need for such a review, but is concerned that it should not be used to restrict legitimate countryside management and recreation. Any proposed new legislation should be based on sound science and consistent principles that allows practical countryside management, which is environmentally and financially sustainable. We would expect any resulting Act to be underpinned by the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. The Act should also respect and reflect our UK obligations under the Rio Convention and other such treaties that support traditional and established sustainable use of wild resources.

policy recommendations

• Conservation should be dynamic and economically viable, not a system preserved entirely by subsidy or regulation. Nature conservation objectives should take full account of local economic and social interests.

• Traditional skills within the community, many of which provide conservation benefits, should be used and developed.

• Proper consideration must be given by DEFRA, by the Rural Advocate and by the statutory bodies directly involved, to how major projects such as the creation of a new National Park, and the planning controls and restrictions this would impose, will affect those who live and work within the area concerned.

• Sustainable moorland use requires some degree of external funding, whether private funding or public subsidy. The right balance is needed to ensure “best value” to the taxpayer. Without external funding moorlands will degenerate.

• Maintaining a skilled local labour base is vital to ensuring careful management of moorlands, and to maintaining viable local communities.

• The needs of rural communities must be fully taken into account when implementing the new right of access, and must reflect their views as represented on local access forums.