By Geoff White, Head of Public Policy and Communications, RICS North
A conference organised by the Newcastle-based Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (Relu) asked a very interesting question for all RICS members this month… ‘Who should run the countryside?’
Do landowners owe it to society to ensure we are provided with all the services we need from this vital national asset? Or does land ownership in today’s Britain already carry too many burdensome responsibilities?
Held in Newcastle upon Tyne, the conference was attended by rural specialists from all over the North of England in what was a celebration of the countryside as well as a chance to reflect on the broader issues of the day.
There were three Big Debate sessions during the day with the titles;
Food security v Environmental Responsibility – which should take precedence?
21st Century land ownership; a responsibility or a privilege?
Can protecting your countryside save the earth?
Chaired by House of Lords crossbencher Lord Haskins, the land ownership debate was brought to life by Prof David Harvey, from the Centre for Rural Economy at Newcastle University, who teamed up with environmental consultant Mark Avery to argue for ‘responsibility’ against the ‘privilege’ proponents who were land use consultant Alan Woods and Lord Joicey, principal trustee of the Ford and Etal Estate.
It was a hugely interesting – and entertaining – debate which elicited a string of spontaneous questions from the well-informed audience.
Statements included: It is privilege that generates responsibility; landowners should never farm and tenants should never own land; it’s our responsibility to manage the land in a way that does not diminish it for people in the future; we need to go beyond the concept of privilege because it is constraining; the privilege is something you enjoy but you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the responsibility; responsibility means we need to avoid the Seven Deadly Sins (wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony).
As Mark Avery said: “The entire population depends on land for a wide range of ecosystems services including ecological resources, carbon storage, flood management, and leisure facilities. Regulation is therefore essential to ensure that those privileged to own land are not entirely motivated by profit but also take into account their obligations to society.”
Much of the exhibits on the day concerned the uplands and the issues have been very well summed up in a new report from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on UK peatlands. It is essential reading for all RICS members working in or concerned about the countryside.
While the inquiry’s findings clearly demonstrate the value of healthy peatlands to society, it also identifies the damage that these areas have suffered and the severe consequences for biodiversity and valuable ecosystem services. A significant amount of carbon is leaking into the atmosphere from drained and deteriorating peatlands.
This is particularly alarming as a loss of only 5% of the carbon stored in peat would equate to the UK’s total annual green house gas emissions. On the other hand, healthy peatlands and those that have been restored and enhanced can make a positive contribution to tackling climate change.
The inquiry has identified a clear strategy for action to bring our peatlands back from the brink, and points the way forward to avoid the social and environmental costs of further deterioration.
This report makes clear the multiple benefits of peatland conservation and restoration, particularly in relation to carbon savings, cleaner drinking water, wildlife conservation and historic archive preservation.
The full report and a summary can be accessed from the IUCN web site www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org or direct by clicking through to the following links FULL and SUMMARY.
Other recent publications that make essential reading for anyone working in the rural sector include;
The report Field advisors as agents of knowledge exchange from the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU).
The article Whose land is it anyway? by journalist Peter Hetherington in the May 2011 edition of RICS magazine Modus.
The RICS Rural Vision report represents the views and priorities of RICS members involved in a wide range of rural policy and practice in the UK.