land in an environmentally sensitive manner, to be eligible for an ESA type payment." Delegates discussed how such schemes could be effectively monitored with one speaker suggesting farmers be paid according to the diversity of wild flowers on their land.

Farmers were concerned about the economic viability of other schemes discussed at the conference: could bracken really make a profit, was the effort of restoring old woodland ever worth while? Even Sir Derek Barber was sceptical about the forestry option: "farmers will not plant trees on an enormous scale to bail us out of our surplus problem" - the return on the investment is far too slow. But research into the viability of tree growing in one region rated as a Less Favoured Area, the Culm Measures in S.W. England, was fairly positive. Small scale tree growing was in fact the only improvement to this land regarded as economically viable. It required four important inputs that had previously been lacking: inclination, expertise, time and, most importantly, marketing. The Dartington Institute was able to offer farmers advice on all four points. This kind of analysis is vital before any effective change can occur. As John Dunning, a hill farmer and Chairman of the National Rural Voice said: "We need to know more about the economics of these regimes and the kind of incentive- cost structures that would need to be put together to make conserving these assets compatible with sustaining a strong and reasonably prosperous hill farming."

Conclusion

Amongst all the disparate views expressed at the seminar one insistent point prevailed, and emerged as the consensus view: any form of change required political solutions at the highest level. One speaker urged delegates to form a lobby specifically to address the parliamentary committees currently debating land

use. Professor Jeffers, the retired director of ITE, urged policy makers to take more notice of the findings of environmental research: the potential for biofuels should be taken seriously especially after the recent disaster at Chernobyl.

There was a strong feeling amongst the scientists that they could provide useful information on the manage- ment methods and options open for landusers. The problem still remaining is transferring this information, more communication is needed in a usable form. Sir Derek Barber told scientists to be less wary about communicating the results to practitioners, so that new techniques can be tested in the field. Mechanisms already exist to mediate between scientists and farmers: the UK Agricultural Development Advisory Service and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (both of which were represented at the seminar). Another speaker complained of lack of consistency from policy makers: one ministry would advocate one environmen- tal policy whilst another was paying farmers to do exactly the opposite.

The seminar clearly provided a forum for a baffling variety of views spanning the whole spectrum of land users. Not only were the tools, economics and policies of land management under discussion- the very objectives were a matter for argument and debate. A concrete result of this unique gathering was the request for a second such seminar, in workshop form, from the chairman of the National Farmers' Union Cumbra Branch. Scientists had sufficiently impressed farmers of the need to look for practical solutions. Will those who determine the policies be equally convinced?

Dr Kate Whitehead NERC, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1EU, UK.

Programme for Environmental Practitioners

A series of Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) evening meetings for environmental practitioners opened with Dr F. B. O'Connor, the Director (Eng- land) of the Nature Conservancy Council addressing the theme 'Professional Partnerships in Nature Conserva- tion'. The meeting was held on Tuesday, 7th October 1986, at the Commercial Gas Centre, London.

Introducing Dr O'Connor, Dr J. F. Potter (Honorary Secretary of the IES) said that although it was perhaps difficult to believe, the term 'environmentalist' was first defined as recently as 1972. The twin concepts of environmentalism and environmental practitioner had largely been formulated since that date. 1972 was a cardinal date for another reason: it was then that the first discussions took place that led to the formation of the

IES at the House of Lords in 1973. Dr Potter said that the Institution had always been most successful when it had addressed broad environmental themes. For exam- ple: tourism and environment, industry and environ- ment, environmental education, environmental re- sources, and the role of computers in conservation. Although acting as a professional focus for environmen- tal practitioners had always been one of the aims of the IES to date, Dr Potter confided that this aim remained unfulfilled. However, he was confident this omission from the IES repertoire would be remedied and he welcomed the new programme as an important stage in that process.

Dr O'Connor said that he felt it was a great privilege to be asked to be the first speaker in what he termed,

150 The Environmentalist

"this exciting series of meetings". He reminded the audience that World Conservation Strategy had been launched in 1980. The three major themes had been (i) ecosystem management, (ii) conservation of genetic resources, (iii) sustainable resource use. The over-riding aim of the Strategy has been intensely practical, namely to ensure the crop production and human population growth were in balance. The recipient nations of the Strategy had been asked to produce a response: to decide on policies designed to realise the aims of the Strategy within their respective localities. In 1983, the UK response was published. This was entitled, A Conservation and Development Programme for the UK.

Dr O'Connor then addressed the theme of the need for conservation. He gave many examples of habitat loss and illustrated these with slides. Just to quote one example (and by no means the most alarming) between 1935 and 1982 some 50 percent of herb rich alluvial meadow had been lost. Turning from habitat to biota, Dr O'Connor gave examples of many endangered species in the UK: otters, pine martens, sand lizards, barn owls, curlews, dragon flies and all species of bat were at risk. If society valued these assets, he said, then it would have to take appropriate action to prevent their loss.

Turning to the policies of the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), Dr O'Connor said that ten main objectives had been identified. These included: main- taining the saftey of special sites, marine conservation, publicity for the conservation cause, legislative provi- sion, international activities, creative environmental improvements, provision of resources, and distribution of effort. The budget of the NCC was now some £36000000 having doubled in recent years. The NCC was now responsible for 200 National Nature Reserves in the UK of which 100 were in England.

Since the passing of the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, site protection had been a priority with the NCC. There were now 4000 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and the renotification of them (survey and description, notification of owners of their liability, responding to proposals for change/management) had consumed about 85 percent of the NCC's total effort. That is, 85 percent of NCC's resources were devoted to the first of its objectives, and only 15 percent to the remaining nine. However, there was a danger. By concentrating so much effort on site safeguarding, a viewpoint could emerge that the remainder of the environment did not matter. Were that to occur it would be dangerous and polarising. The future, he suggested, must involve a rebalancing of the Council's effort. This, he thought, could only be done by building up public support and concern for the wider environment, so that more resources became available.

With regard to the pressure on the rural environment resulting from intensive agriculture and the accompany- ing production of surpluses, Dr O'Connor thought that the problem was manageable without having to resort to

the extreme measures to which we were sometimes exhorted. Surpluses could be managed by taking some 10 percent of agricultural land out of production. This re-emphasised the need for the NCC to move from site orientation to the wider environment.

Partnership in Conservation

Dr O'Connor then moved on to talk about partnership in conservation. The NCC's partners could be such groups as the mineral extraction industry, the water industry, the tourist industry, the energy industry, etc. The impetus for the formation of the partnerships was powered by greater public awareness and a greater demand for a high quality environment.

How should this change to partnership take place, he asked. Clearly there was a need for an information base. There was a need to identify the factors affecting the abundance and distribution of wild-life, and to identify the people and organisations behind these factors - the partners with whom one would have to interact. A further need was to develop mechanisms with the partners. Conservationists would have to demonstrate an economic benefit. This might not necessarily be a direct benefit - it could for instance represent a saving resulting from the avoidance of very lengthy (and therefore very costly) delays in the planning process.

Dr O'Connor suggested that one approach to further these global-sounding partnerships was to bring them down to the local level. He quoted the Minister, William Waldegrave, as saying that it was necessary to develop locally now in order to drive the political machine. Dr O'Connor took as one example of a partnership scheme the NCC's publication Nature Conservation Guidelines for the On-shore Oil and Gas Industry. This has been produced in consultation with the industry. Additional- ly, more than 1000 copies of a draft had been circulated for comment. He felt it had been a most successful and worthwhile exercise.

He concluded by talking about the changing climate for conservation. He felt that the present provided many opportunities. Conservationists now had a wider clien- tele, the political climate was more favourable than heretofore, the perception of industry was changing. "We should endeavour to act now in a positive and constructive way", he said.

The Chairman thanked Dr O'Connor who received spontaneous applause from an appreciative audience. He also thanked Roy Waller (Members of Council) for arranging the series of meetings, and British Gas for so generously acting as hosts for the series. The Institution has planned a similar evening meeting for practitioners approximately once each month throughout the year.

Trevor Harvey Farnborough College of Technology, Boundary Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, UK,

Volume 7, Number2 (1987) 151