Last Saturday I attended the Southern Area Members Gathering of the John Muir Trust (JMT). I was accompanied by four Countryside students from Harper Adams University, so their take on the meeting will be very interesting (and ultimately, as they follow their chosen career path, more significant than mine).
The John Muir Trust is a charity set up to protect wild land and wild places - very much the ethos of John Muir, the Scot who emigrated to the United States and was instrumental in persuading the then President, Roosevelt, that wild places should be valued for their own sakes. This was the trigger for the creation of National Parks within the USA and ultimately in many other countries worldwide.
The main content of the morning's proceedings was the annual report by Chief Executive Stuart Brooks which touched upon many aspects of the Trust's work and outlined the Trust's stance on a number of issues, some contentious. There are some issues upon which the JMT is still deciding its position.
The JMT is still committed to rewilding the tracts of land that it owns in both Highland and Lowland Scotland and is always on the lookout for suitable properties in England and Wales. As part of its commitment to reducing deer numbers the JMT is in favour of reintroducing a 'top predator' species. The reintroduction of the wolf is now off the agenda and the 'w' word is now taboo. The proposed reintroduction of the European Lynx is gathering momentum, the public debate will be interesting.
A picture of a European Lynx would have been good at this point, but I don't have one. Perhaps if and when they're reintroduced.....
The concept of 'Natural Capital' was discussed. Natural Capital is a system by which natural and ecological processes which provide a 'service' to man and/or industry (such as trees providing natural flood defences, vegetation providing water purification etc) are assigned a monetary value.
There are two schools of thought on this: one is that by showing that nature will help the balance sheet, industry and big business can be encouraged to adopt greener practices; the other is that the cynical number crunchers within industry will run rings around environmentalists and conservationists when it comes to the manipulation of statistics to their own ends. The other down side to Natural Capital is that enthusiastic, well-meaning amateurs like my 'good self' know in our hearts that nature needs to be protected and turning it into a 'balance sheet asset' may well disenchant that vital army of volunteers and activists who do so much good work.
The JMT has not decided its stance on this but intends to be party to the 'conversation', which I feel is sensible.
So after a heavy morning receiving updates on natural issues of great moment it was a 'breath of fresh air' to have an audio visual presentation by talented young wildlife photographer, camera man and presenter Bertie Gregory. Check out his website, if he's this good at twenty one I can't wait to see his material in a few years' time! An excellent way to round off the morning.
The afternoon focused on deer management with Mike Daniels providing the view from the Scottish Highlands, Charles Harding from Exmoor and John Stowers, the South West liaison officer of the 'Deer Initiative' ( a national group drawn from a number of agencies).
The overwhelming conclusion, which surprised no-one, is that there are far too many deer both north and south of the border, but the issues have significant regional differences. In the highlands the red deer can only be shot during a short season when the meat is in its worst condition and this precludes them from being used, other than locally, as a food source.
The deer population in England and Wales is hugely out of control. Some venison is being sold locally but numbers are on the increase.
The main issue with deer in the Scottish Highlands is ecological, can the landscape support them. The increased numbers are harming the landscape. The issue in England, especially in central southern England is that there is a huge deer population living in close proximity with a huge human population and the place where the two species collide (quite literally) is on the road. There are a staggering number of Road Traffic Collisions (RTC) each year involving deer and these are increasing in line with the population increases of both species. So the question is not just ecological but social.
A final note of caution, we think deer are a problem (and they are) The number of wild boar in the countryside is increasing at an alarming rate (after all sows have six to eight young rather than a female deer's one). Following the (small) breakout from a farm in the Forest of Dean, there are estimated to be around two thousand wild boar in the forest. There have been similar breakouts all over the country so there are a lot of them out there. The prospect of a RTC with a wild boar is a very daunting one.
Any way, a good meeting - pithy and pertinent (as it should be) and plenty of food for thought.
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