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- an expression of a future-natural state for British landscapes
Mark Fisher(formerly a real scientist)
What words are commonly associated in Britain with a wilderness landscape?
bleak, empty, harsh, savage, barren, wasteland
Given the option, would these wild animals choose to live in a landscape described by those words?
Mule deer, mountain sheep, black bear – Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
Not bl***** likely!!!!
Parque Natural Sierra de las Nievas, Andalucia, Spain
Rothiemurchis ForestSpeyside, Scotland
Where’s this?
Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia,
Canada
Ancient woodlandGrass Wood, Grassington
North Yorks
Where would you find these?
Ute Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA
Moughton Fell, Yorkshire Dales National Park
Where’s this?
What did all those landscape examples have in common?
* Little evidence of human intervention, possibly in the past, certainly in the present
* A richness of diverse vegetation suited to the edaphic and climatic conditions
* An intrinsic beauty (biophilia – Edward Wilson, 1984)
* Capacity to support a wide range of the animal kingdom
* A LARGE MEASURE OF SELF-DETERMINATION
To varying extent, they are self-willed land
* Outside the margins of productive/extracted land
How did I come to embrace self-willed land?
Permaculture – an earth science based on observation of self-regulating natural systems
Permacuture Design – a developed system of design principles and tools, underpinned by an ethical framework
A natural systems approach to designs for living
The spiral of intervention
Relative placement – the zones of land use
Do nothing
Remove constraints
Biological intervention
Mechanical intervention
Chemical intervention
The spiral of intervention
Least effort for maximum effect
DECREASING INTENSITY of use
Zones of land use – how often and how much?Human determination
and useWild nature’s determination
Zone 0House
Zone 5“Wilderness”
Zone 1Home garden
Zone 3/4Agroforestry, water storage, timber & wood
Zone 2Orchard
In Zone 1 people are:
Experts and teachers
In Zone 5 people are:
Visitors only, observing & learning at the feet of Mother Nature
Grass wood
Bastow wood
Coniston Old Pasture
“FUZZY” LANDSCAPES - Craven Limestone Complex
Zones - successional woodland, wood pasture and open pasture
Zoning in the National Parks of Canada – Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba
Zone I - Special Preservation - Area of special importance - may be no people access.
Zone II – Wilderness - Extensive area of a good representation of a natural region. Experience of remoteness and solitude. Minimal human interference and no car access.
Zone III - Natural Environment - Managed as a natural environment, with outdoor recreation activities requiring minimal, “rustic” services and facilities. Cars may be allowed.
Zone IV - Outdoor Recreation - Limited area whose defining feature is direct access by car.
Zone V - Park Services - Communities in existing national parks which contain a concentration of visitor services and support facilities. LAKE LOUISE – Banff National park
Zones I and II together constitute the majority of the area of all but the smallest national parks.
Sandwich RangeWilderness
Caribou – Speckled Mountain Wilderness
PemigewassetWilderness
Great GulfWilderness
Presidential Range – Dry River Wilderness
Zoning inside a National Forest – wilderness areas
White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, USA
National forest 800,000 acres
Wilderness areas 114,932 acres14.4%
Methods of tree harvest in the non-wilderness areas mimic increasing levels of natural disturbance. Regeneration is natural after harvest
“Zone 4”
“Zone 5”
Zoning inside a European protected area – PAN Park Wilderness
Retezat National Park, Southern Carpathians, Romania
Park Area (Park Limits)38,138 ha IUCN Category II (national park)
Wilderness zone (Central Area)14,215 ha – (37.3% of total area)
Gemenele Scientific Reserve1,630 ha IUCN Category Ia (scientific reserve)
PP Wilderness - a core area without extractive use of at least 10,000ha
CATEGORY Protected area name Area managed for
I a & b Strict Nature Reserve / Wilderness Area Strict protection
II National Park Ecosystem conservation and recreation
III Natural Monument Conservation of natural features
IV Habitat/Species Management Area Conservation through active management
V Protected Landscape/Seascape Landscape/seascape conservation and recreation
VI Managed Resource Protected Area Sustainable use of natural ecosystems
Guidelines for Protected Areas Management Categories – IUCN, 1994
Our National Nature Reserves are Category IV, ournational parks are Category V
Where is our land protected for values in Categories I to IIICan we CREATE it??
There is a gradation of human intervention from Category I to VI
Original-natural – existed before people became a significant ecological factor;
Present-natural - would exist now if people had never become a significant ecological factor. Different because climate and soils may have changed in the last 5000 years.
Past-natural – present day woods whose components have been inherited from the original-natural forests (Ancient Woodland);
Potential-natural - a hypothetical state that could develop instantly in the absence of influence from people;
Our future-natural starts from here
FROM: Natural Woodland: Ecology and Conservation in Northern Temperate Regions, George F. Peterken (1996) Cambridge Uni. Press
How much land are we prepared to gift to wild nature?
Future-natural – a state that will develop if people’s influence is removed, and woodland regenerates at its own pace (100-500 yrs). Not a re-creation of the past, and subject to continuing extinction, introductions, and changes in soil and climate.