Changing Rural Environments:

Unit 2: section A In the human paper you will have to answer 3 questions; 1 on

changing rural environments, 1 on population change and 1 on tourism. The paper is 1:30hrs long therefore you should aim to

spend 30 minutes on each question.

The Syllabus

Opposite is a copy of the syllabus for this unit of work.

It should help you to highlight any gaps in your notes and learning.

Main Case Studies

A case study of a commercial farming area in the UK to

illustrate the following points:• The development of agri-businesses and the impact of

modern farming practices on the environment.

• Demands from the market with reference to the demands of

the supermarket chains and food processing firms.

• Competition from the global market.

• Development of organic farming.• Government policies aimed at

reducing the environmentaleffects of high impact farming.

A case study of a rural area in the UK to illustrate thefollowing points:

• Reasons for and consequences of rural depopulation and the decline in rural services in

remote areas.• The characteristics and factors significant to a

declining village.• Growth in the ownership of second homes.

East Anglia

Truth wall, Cornwall OR Longnor, Peak District

The rural-urban fringe is under intense pressure due to urban sprawl and the increasing mobility of the population.

Key idea no.1

What is the rural urban fringe?

Over time cities have expanded outwards, along with their influence on the surrounding area. This transitional zone between the countryside and the city is known as the rural-urban fringe (where residents live in the countryside but tend to work and socialise in the city).

Why is the rural urban fringe under pressure?

The rural-urban fringe is under pressure from urban sprawl. This is the expansion of cities outwards into the surrounding countryside. This is because the population of the UK is continuing to rise and the number of households is increasing.

Modern technology, including the use of email, video-calling, fast internet connections and teleworking, offers people and businesses greater flexibility as to where work takes place. Over the last 60 years the development of a 3500 kilometre motorway network has made cities more easily accessible for affluent motorists living in the countryside

This means that

people no longer

need to live in

urban areas to

make a living!

Why is the rural urban fringe so important?

The rural urban fringe is under pressure because the land is relatively cheap compared to urban areas. This makes it attractive to developers. They are very accessible as motorways often run through or past them linking them to the city and other areas. There is also more space available to build large developments such as business and retail parks.

Can you think of any out-

of-town retail

developments in the

rural-urban fringe in

Bristol?

Does it have fre

e

parking? Is there lots of

space? What is the

infrastructure lik

e around

the area?

Free ParkingGood

links/accessibility with M32 (to Bristol) M5 to the south and

midlands (Birmingham)

and M4 (Wales and London).

All under one roof – large scale

development due to the cheap cost

of the land

Who do you think might have been opposed to building the Mall?

The Mall at Cribbs Causeway

Look at this cartoon – what do you think it is saying about the impacts of urban sprawl on the countryside?

The impact of urban sprawl on the countryside

1. Longer journeys by car from the edge of the city centre

2. More pollution3. More traffic congestion and gridlock4. Wildlife habitats destroyed and

fragmented leading to wildlife numbers and diversity declining

5. The number of ‘tranquil’ areas have decreased by a third in the last 40 years.

Responses and Strategies for the future

Planners in the UK decided that green belts were the best way to stop urban sprawl. Such areas were located around urban areas to slow the rate of urban growth. However…this doesn’t always work as development either eats into the green belt or simply leapfrogs the projected land and continues on the higher quality countryside beyond. Therefore urban sprawl is likely to continue in light of the fact that the government wants to build 3 million new homes by 2020 (with a quarter to be located on green belt land!).

Past Paper Questions

Click on the question to find the answer

Suburbanised Villages

A suburbanised village has residential population who sleep in the village but who travel to work in a nearby urban area. They have expanded as part of the larger process of counter-urbanisation.

The characteristics of a suburbanised village: it is an

original village core; infilling of houses

between old houses; houses built along

roads leading out of the village in ribbon developments and

larger planned estates located

outside the village core.

How might suburbanised villages be changing?

Using page 176 in understanding GCSE geography, write one way in which suburbanised villages are changing under the following headings:

• Population• Housing• Employment• Services• Social• Transport• Environment

Remote rural areas have undergone social and economic changes.

Key idea no. 2

Case Study: Cornwall – the social & economic changes in rural areas

• To understand general causes and results of rural depopulation in Cornwall.

• To be able to recognise the features of a village in decline.

• To understand why holiday and second homes are growing.

• To realise the consequences of decline for rural services, income levels and standards of living.

Key word: rural depopulation

Decline in numbers living in countryside areas, often due to out-migration

Where is Cornwall?Located in the remote south

west corner of England, Cornwall is the county next to Devon. It is far from the core

region of the south-east of England.

Why are remote rural areas in Cornwall in decline?

• Reduction in traditional employment due to:

• Declining labour requirements on mechanised farms;

• Increased competition from abroad;• Exhaustion of natural resources (e.g. tin, copper

& china clay).

Is everybody leaving Cornwall?

Rural depopulation occurred between 1860 and 1951. From the 1960s onwards however, people began to move back to the countryside. The vast majority of these people were elderly, attracted by the mild climate and beautiful scenery. A quarter of the half million population here is over state pensionable age (compared to 19% across the UK). Today, the number of births is 4500 and the number of deaths is 6000 a year, giving a natural population decrease. Out migration of the younger, economically active population in search of education, jobs and affordable homes continues.

What are the results of rural depopulation in Cornwall?

• Rural depopulation tends to now be confined to the most isolated rural areas, this results in the following problems:

• An ageing population;• A decline in services;• Rural poverty;• Isolation.

Reduced wealth & demand for rural

services Population decline

Reduced rate of natural increase

Deterioration in age/sex structure

Emigration

Fewer employment opportunities

Decline in traditional rural

employment

The Cycle of rural decline

The characteristics of a declining village

• Housing• Population• Employment• Services &

transport• Social• Environment

The consequences of rural depopulation

• Increase in second homes causes house prices to rise

• Decline in rural services• Rural poverty

The increase in

second homes

A first time home in Cornwall is

now more unaffordable than

in London

The effect on rural services

• The availability of services in the 10 000 rural parishes in England is in decline.

• The amount of rural parishes without key services remained high.

• Decreases in:– Banks, petrol stations, dentists, post offices &

job centres• Increases in:

– supermarkets, cashpoints, pubs & restaurants

The consequences of rural depopulation

• When areas become saturated with second home owners, those living near the poverty line become hidden in statistics.

• The 4 poorest wards in west Cornwall have more than ¼ are living in poverty.

• Penwith has the lowest rate of economic activity in south-west England.

• Out-migration is prevalent.• It is estimated that by 2026 1/3 of the population will

be retired – this will put even more pressure on health & recreational services & shrink services for the young.

The minimum level of

income deemed

necessary to achieve

an adequate standard

of living.

Attempts should be made to ensure that rural living is sustainable.

Key idea no.3

Rural areas are disappearing under concrete at a rate of 54 sq km a year. Can rural areas be protected and

sustainably developed a the same time?

The Rural Delivery Review, published in 2003 by the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) recognised the problems of the countryside, including:

1. Lack of control over economic and social issues

2. The loss of rural services and the complex and confusing system of rural funding

The Government established Natural England to conserve

and manage tourism

It has 3 objectives:1. Conserving natural resources2. Protecting the environment3. Sustainable rural living

1. Environmental Stewardship Scheme

1. To conserve wildlife2. Increase biodiversity3. Improve landscape quality4. Provide flood management5. Promote public access to the

countryside

2. Rural Development Programmes

To support sustainable farming methods by investing £1.6bn in various schemes (between 2000 and 2006).

Other organisations…

Commercial farming in favoured agricultural areas is subject to a number of human influences.

Key idea no. 4

Farm types and key terms• Arable (crops)• Pastoral (animals)• Mixed (both• Dairy (cows)• Hill Sheep• Market gardening (e.g. flowers)

• Intensive - high labour and money (capital)• Extensive - larger in size, low input and outputs per hectare• Subsistence - producing food for yourself (mainly in LEDW)• Commercial - farmers grow crops and rear animals to sell and make a

profit• Nomadic - shifting cultivation or seasonal movements of livestock or

pasture• Sedentary - farming in a fixed location• Agri-business Large scale (Commercial) farming enterprises/several farms

joined together to form one business.

Case Study: Arable farming – changes and damage to the landscape (East Anglia)

Physical Factors• Flat land• Fertile Soils• The sand, loam (a mix of sand and clay) and chalk soils

are suitable for vegetables, fruit and root crops• Long growing season• Good rainfall

Human Factors• Located close to large urban areas (inc. London) which

provides a large wealthy market• Next to the M11 motorway and A1 which allows for rapid

transport of the produce to market)

Arable farming is both intensive and commercial (cash crops are sold for profit). It takes place primarily in the South East of England. The following is

a list of human and physical factors that make this area ideal for farming crops:

Case Study: Arable farming – changes and damage to the landscape (East Anglia)

1940/50s• Farms were small• Field size small• Output lower/less intensive• Hedgerows present• Crop rotation used (to replace nitrogen in the soil)

• Animals kept as part of rotation• Farms were mixed • Employing large numbers of people

Today• Farms are more intensive• Crop rotation disappeared - chemical fertilizer used so crops are grown in same field

year on year• Herbicides and pesticides used• Mechanization - reduce labour required

• Improved buildings (e.g. drying sheds for grain - temperature controlled)

• Agribusiness/Agrichemicals• Hedgerows removed so that field size can be increased

• More land cultivated (known as extensification – woodland cleared)

These changes show the development of large scale agribusiness

e.g.

Higham

Farm East

Anglia

The ‘Hedgerow Problem’• Hedge cutting machinery is very expensive• Hedges make the edges and corners of fields difficult to farm• Many wild birds nest in hedgerows• Hedgerow insects help pollinate crops• Hedges help prevent soil erosion (thus cutting hedgerows increases soil erosion)• Hedges provide shelter for small animals• Hedge control takes up a farmers time• Insects and animals living in hedgerows may damage crops)• Hedges look attractive• Hedgerows protect crops from the wind• Hedges used up land that could be farmed• Weeds from hedgerows could spread into fields

In addition to the Hedgerow problem, other changes in farming in MEDCs have also caused:

1. Nitrate pollution in rivers and lakes from the overuse of fertilizer (fish die due to lack of oxygen caused by eutrophication)

2. Cheap imports threaten domestic producers thus forcing them to diversify to survive.

What can be done to solve these problems?

• Increasing field size – qualify for a grant to replant hedges/build stone walls as boundaries and so reducing size of fields.

• Overuse of chemicals – encourage the use of natural fertilisers and the expansion of organic farming

• Growth of factory farming – ban the battery farming of chickens, encourage greater free range production.

In the past, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) guaranteed farmers a minimum price for their crop. They were also given subsidies (money ) for what they produced). This led to overproduction of food (food surpluses). Subsidies are planned to be phased out however, by 2013. Supermarkets now have the power…

Demands from the market:

Supermarkets and food processing firms

• Supermarkets and food suppliers have considerable power over farmers. Supermarkets have high standards and often demand produce of a certain size/weight etc. They set the prices and the farmers have no choice in what they get paid for their goods. In turn food processing firms are under pressure from the supermarkets too. This means that will only want to buy products a low prices. All this means is that the farmer often sells their produce at a loss.

• To cut down on costs many factories are located close to farms. This means food can be processed quickly whilst it is still fresh e.g. Birds Eye peas are frozen within one hour of picking.

Over the past couple of decades farmers have been paid by the Government and the EU not to produce so much food but instead to ‘set-aside’ land to improve wildlife habitats and encourage biodiversity (a wider range of wildlife). This was all part of CAP (common agricultural policy). Today CAP money is spent on improving animal welfare and environmental standards across the EU.

1. Environmental stewardship

In 2005 farmers were offered incentives to conserve wildlife, maintain and enhance (improve) the landscape and protect natural resources e.g. Seed new hedgerows, leave grass headlands around fields and leave streams/ponds etc untouched.

2. Energy crop scheme

Farmers now get paid to produce biofuels instead of food e.g. Straw-fired power station, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Government policies aimed at reducing the environmental effects of farming:

Organic farming:

This does not use synthetic chemicals such as pesticides and insecticides. This is better for the health of the farm workers, wildlife and environment. This type of farming is expanding in the UK. It accounts for 1.6% of all farms and is worth £2 billion per year.

Where do people buy their organic produce?

Why don’t all farms produce organically?

• Sub-tropical and tropical rural areas are increasingly subject to change and conflict.

Key idea no. 5

Subsistence food production in subtropical areas: the Amazon Rainforest

Shifting cultivation (sometimes called slash and burn) is the main example of subsistence farming in the rainforest. This is when Amazonian tribes clear a patch of land leaving a few large trees for protection (about 1 hectare) and burn it so that the ash fertilises the soil. The main crop ‘manioc’ is planted with yams, beans and pumpkins in clearings called ‘chagras’. After the nutrients are gone, the Amazonians move on to farm another piece of land, allowing the area to recover. This type of farming is sustainable.

The impact of soil erosion in the rainforest

Soil erosion is caused by:1. Deforestation2. Cultivation on slopes3. Ranching4. Heavy machinery compacting the soil5. Mining6. Plantations of one crop (monoculture)7. Over cultivation8. Irrigation without soil drainage9. Overgrazing

The impact of soil erosion:The cycle in the rainforest is delicate. Without trees (after deforestation) there is no layer of humus (made of rotting leaves) to add organic nutrients to the soil. The lack of tress also means less interception so heavy rain washes the soil away. This can cause ‘gullying’ which is when the water carves out gully-shaped hollows in the soil. Rivers flood more frequently due to receiving more water. The soil quickly loses its fertility.

The impact of forestry and mining

The 5000 miles of the Trans Amazon Highway built in the 1960s has brought development at a cost to the Amazon.

As much as 80% of deforestation has occurred within 30km of official roads. Clear felling has supplied many jobs and incomes to the people of Brazil. Local people are now also involved in soya farming and ranching which now dominates the landscape. This is known as ‘cash cultivation’ or ‘commercial farming’.

Land in tropical regions is also being cleared for mining operations and oil exploration. Open pit mining for precious metals for example, requires tress to be felled. The soils are then pumped with water across sieves. The heavy metals remain on the sieves as the water and sediment are washed away. Mercury added to amalgamate gold then enters the water and pollutes the river systems. Silt added to the river system can also kill fish.

Changes to agriculture caused by irrigation and appropriate technology developments.

Irrigation is the artificial watering of the land and is used by farmers in dry climates. Water can be transferred to the field by simple gravity fed canals dug away from rivers with earthen banks and sluice gates that open and allow river water and nutrients to flood fields. Wells or holes dug down to the water table provide water for individual farms.

The Aswan Dam: Egypt

In Egypt, water management of the Nile allows rice, sugar cane etc. to be grown. These feed the growing population. This is good for a number of reasons:

1. Assured Water Supply2. Desert reclaimed for farmland3. Cultivated are doubled from 4% to 8%4. No longer any risk from summer floods5. Electricity supply from HEP for the whole

country

The impact of irrigation

Human mismanagement of the land in the Indus valley in Pakistan on the edge of the Thar desert has converted marginal land to desert (desertification). Soil erosion is a prominent here due to over cultivation and over grazing. Salinization and water logging are frequent occurrences. Salinization occurs when high temperatures draw water and salts up through the soil via capillary action. This causes the soil to become saline and encourages the development of a thick crust which does not allow water to infiltrate causing water logging.

Appropriate Technology

Sustainability can be achieved by providing a level of technology in terms of size and complexity that makes it suitable for use by local people (appropriate technology). Projects should therefore be small scale, affordable, suited to the local environment and improve their lives for today and generations to comes.

Examples…

1. Rainwater conservation

2. Soil conservation

3. Contour ploughing

See page 189 in New Understanding GCSE geography for an explanation of how these work

Appropriate Technology

The impact of rural-urban migration and failing agricultural systems.

As the population grows, people are moving in greater numbers to urban areas from rural areas in search of better opportunities.

What are the impacts? Look to your revision guide/notes/page 189 in New Understanding GCSE Geography.

Improvements in agriculture in the Tropics

1. Improved irrigation so that crops can be grown all year round and yields increased

2. Improved technology such as ploughs, seed drills and biogas plants to power machinery. This must be appropriate!

3. The Green Revolution in the 1960/70s provided farmers with new high yield varieties of rice which helped them to produce more. Recent population growth has seen some countries importing food as production cannot keep up with demand.

4. Growing cash crops to make a profit rather than subsistence farming. Big companies (TNCs) have helped here because they bring investment and create jobs e.g. rubber in Malaysia, tea in India

Past paper questions

1. What is ‘agri-business’? (1 mark)2. Explain how the demands of supermarkets and food

processing firms affect farming.

(4 marks)3. The following is a list of some of the features of

modern farming methods. • Increasing field size• Overuse of chemicals• Factory farmingChoose two of the features listed or others that you have studied. Explain how the negative environmental effects of these features could be reduced. (4 marks)

Past paper questions

4. Describe how tropical agriculture can be improved. (8 marks)

5. Using example(s) explain why many developments are taking place in the rural-urban fringe. (8 marks)

6. Study Figures 7a and 7b, which are a map showing the percentage of houses which are second homes in the Lake District National Park, and a map of the Lake District National Park and the surrounding areas.

7. What is a second home? (1

mark)

8. Using Figures 7a and 7b, describe the distribution of second homes in theLake District National Park. (4 marks)

9. With the help of Figure 7b, suggest reasons for the distribution of secondhomes in the Lake District National Park shown on Figure 7a.

(2 marks)

Past paper questions

Glossary of Key TermsAgri-business – type of farming that is run as a big business (no longer a way of life)

Cash crop farming – crops grown for sale instead of farmer’s own use (the opposite of subsistence farming)

Commercial farming – type of agriculture based on growing crops or rearing livestock for sale

Commuter – person who travels to work in another place every day by car or public transport

Counter-urbanisation - the movement of people from urban areas into the surrounding countryside

Environmental degradation – productive land turned into wasteland by damage to the soil

Food miles – distance that food travels between supplier and supermarket shelf

Function (of a settlement) – what it does, why it is there, e.g. capital city, port, industrial centre

Land uses (urban) – ways in which the Earth’s surface is used, e.g. houses, factories, shops, transport, parks in towns and cities

Organic farming – type of agriculture that does not use chemicals and artificial growth stimulants; farming in a natural and sustainable way

Quality of life – how well a person is able to enjoy living; high quality is living comfortably (without always being wealthy) and low quality is struggling to survive

Rural depopulation – decline in numbers living in country areas, often due to out-migration

Rural–urban fringe – area of countryside lying on the edge of the main built-up area, sometimes partly built on

Second home – house (often in rural areas) that is not the owner’s main place of residence

Subsistence farming – type of agriculture based on growing crops and rearing livestock mainly to feed the family

Suburbanised village – small settlement in the countryside that has grown with new housing and now is less like the old rural settlement it used to be

Urban sprawl – outward spread of towns and cities into and taking over rural areas

Urbanisation – increase in the percentage of people living in urban areas

Glossary of Key Terms

Level 2 (Clear) 5–6 marks

Linked statements showing some appreciation of why the rural-urban fringe is being built on. Knowledge of accurate information. Clear understanding. Answers have some linkages; occasional detail/exemplar; uses somespecialist terms where appropriate. Clear evidence of sentence structure. Some spelling, punctuation andgrammatical errors.

There is plenty of open space and the land is cheaper than the centre of the city so developers want to build houses there. These houses are popular with buyers as they are in an attractive area. Out of town shopping centres are popular because there is plenty of space and they areaccessible.

Level 3 (Detailed) 7–8 marks

Detailed information with the use of an example(s) which. Knowledge of accurate information appropriately contextualised and/or at correct scale. Detailed understanding, supported by relevant evidence and exemplars. Well organised, demonstrating detailed linkages and the inter-relationships between factors. Range of ideas in a logical form; uses a range of specialist terms where appropriate. Well structured response with effective use of sentences. Few spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.

Out of town shopping centres have been built because they need a largeamount of land in order to provide plenty of car parking space. These arelarge scale because they have a large range of shops close together orunder one roof. These need a huge infrastructure to support them and therelative cheapness of the land compared to the city centre is therefore anadvantage. In Gloucester the greenbelt between Gloucester andCheltenham is being taken up with the building of the M5 motorway,housing estates and golf courses.

Level 1 (Basic) 1–4 marks

Simple statements largely concerned with the developments that have taken place rather than the reasons. Knowledge of basic information. Simple understanding. Few links; limited detail; uses a limited range of specialist terms. Limited evidence of sentence structure. Frequent spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.

They can build shopping centres there. They can build houses. The land is cheap.

3(b)(ii)

Greenpeace / ecowarriors / environmentalists / conservationists / farmers / people living in the existing villages.

3(b)(iii)

Conservationists want the land left as open space so the habitat of the wildlife is not disturbed. Farmers lose their land and so will not be able to make a living.Existing villagers feel that new development would spoil the look of the area / increase the noise / put pressure on services.

Longnor – student notesLongnor suffers many economic and social problems, due to old people moving there to retire, therefore the cost in housing has gone up due to popular demand. This means young people are moving away because they cannot afford to live there. The effect is that shops and community services have been forced to close down, because there are few young people to run them. However, decision makers have managed change in the economic and social environment of the area. They have done this by building new housing developments allowing room for a larger population. The Coventry churches housing association has also provided more affordable housing estates, there were 14 houses which were rented only to young people due to 50% of 16-20 year olds leaving the village. This effect has helped the economic environment of this area because there are more jobs being filled. Another example of how the decision makers have managed change in the area is by setting up IRD projects, which encourages business and community projects. This helps reduce population and decline by introducing business enterprises, encouraging young people to stay living in the village. Some examples of this include, renovating the market hall to provide a craft centre and tea rooms. This employs many locals and attracts tourists to the area, therefore helping the economic problem. Rural development commission has awarded grants in the form of reduced business rates, which has also helped with the economic issues in the village.