Scotland’s leading environmental and heritage organisations have thrown down the gauntlet to the Scottish Government, challenging it to renew its obligations to conserve, protect and enhance the nation’s landscapes.
An alliance of organisations has signed an open letter to the Scottish Government calling for reaffirmation of commitments contained in the European Landscape Convention, and greater progress towards meeting them.
The letter, dated 10 January 2011, calls for a clear indication from the Scottish Government that:
•A system of monitoring and proofing all new relevant legislation, policy and guidance will be carried out to ensure compliance with the Convention.
•Scotland’s Landscape Charter will be comprehensively implemented.
The European Landscape Convention was developed by the Council of Europe. It was ratified by the UK Government in November 2006, thereby committing the UK to recognise landscape in law and to integrate it into all relevant areas of policy, including cultural, environmental, economic and social policies. It also made a commitment to engage all members of society in the protection, management, enhancement and planning of landscapes.
John Mayhew, convenor of the Scottish Environment LINK Landscape Taskforce, said: “We have made a good start in Scotland through the creation of Scotland’s Landscape Charter, but without wider backing for landscape from government and all relevant interests, there is a danger than it will continue to take a back seat.
“We need clear support from the Scottish Government to implement Scotland’s Landscape Charter, and it is equally vital that support is given by the UK Government and devolved administrations.”
The UK has contributed much to the rising awareness of landscape values throughout the world, and UK experts were central in drafting the Convention. However, the commitments described above have not yet been fully honoured in any of the four UK administrations.
The signatories of the letter request that the commitments set out by the Convention are brought forward, particularly at a time when governments are reviewing policies and seeking new partnerships with local stakeholders. The signatories believe that landscape is an important national asset, a key factor in people’s quality of life, a major economic resource and a stimulus for community action.
Stuart Brooks, chief executive of the John Muir Trust, one of the signatories to the letter, said: “Scotland has a wide and varied range of natural landscapes, featuring around 300 distinct landscape types. But landscape is more than scenery. It is the interaction between people and place and is the bedrock upon which our society is built. It gives meaning and value to the world around us, contributing to our sense of identity and quality of life.”
“The value of people visiting the landscape, through exploring parks, woodland areas, lochs and open space was valued by Scottish Natural Heritage as nearly £4 billion. The same study reported that visitors to Scotland’s wild landscape areas contributed as much as £751m to the Scottish Economy, supporting 20,600 jobs.”
The core benefits of the Convention are that it helps to fulfil the following purposes of public policy:
• Reinforce democracy, in that landscape belongs to everyone.
• Promote co-responsibility, in that every member of civil society, every property owner, every user of land can influence landscape for good or ill.
• Strengthen good governance, in that concern within communities for their landscape can lead to the development of greater environmental responsibility.
• Encourage localism, in that landscape not only contributes to the formation of local cultures and local quality of life, but the ELC also respects the principle of subsidiarity at every administrative level and landscape scale.
• Secure a valuable economic resource, in that landscape protection, management and planning can contribute to job creation, as well as social, cultural, environmental and economic value.
• Advance integration, in that landscape issues can provide the stimulus and framework for integrated policy-making and action affecting environmental change.