- an expression of a future-natural state for British landscapes

Mark Fisher(formerly a real scientist)

www.self-willed-land.org.ukmark.fisher@self-willed-land.org.uk

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!!!!

So what really is a wilderness landscape?

Survival fat layer

Garden of the Gods State ParkColorado, USA

Brimham RocksNorth Yorks

Where’s this?

Walker Ranch State ParkCalifornia, USA

Pembrokeshire Coast National ParkWales

Where’s this?

Triglav National ParkSlovenia

Peak District National ParkDerbyshire

Where’s this?

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?

Mount Rainier National ParkWashington, USA

The Strid, Bolton Abbey EstateNorth Yorks

Where’s this?

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.

“upland wilderness”

cf. English Nature interpretation board

Ingleborough NNR

WORDS/DEFINITIONS ARE IMPORTANT!!

(and so is understanding)

See “What is Wildland?”www.self-willed-land.org.uk/what_wildland.htm