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The future of natural areas
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Number 27 - november 2000 | |
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Summary |
| The
National Trust model
Richard Ellis
This article seeks to explain the finances of the National Trust. With 2.6 million members the Trust is the United Kingdom's (and possibly Europe's) largest non-governmental conservation body, with a turnover of £182.4 million (ESP 50,160 million) in the financial year 1998-9. The National Trust was founded in 1895 to preserve places of historic interest or natural beauty permanently for the nation to enjoy. That year it was given its first piece of property, a small patch of hillside overlooking the sea on the wild west coast of Wales. This property is 2 hectares in extent, and was (and is) covered with gorse Ulex earopeus, oak Quercus petraea and sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus. Today the National Trust owns more than 248,000 hectares of the most beautiful countryside in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, making it one of the largest landowners in the United Kingdom. (Scotland has its own, separate organisation, the National Trust for Scotland, which was established in 1931). It also owns over 900 kilometres of coastline. It bought its first piece of built heritage, the Clergy House at Alfriston, in the south of England, in 1896 (for £10 sterling). Today, the National Trust protects and opens to the public over 200 historic houses and gardens as well as 49 industrial monuments and mills. The National Trust has been closely associated with nature conservation since 1899 when it acquired Wicken Fen, the country's oldest nature reserve. Today it is the United Kingdom's if not Europe's, largest conservation body with a turnover of £182. 4 million (ESP 50.160.000.000) in the financial year 1998-1999. Its activities are many and varied, the fact that it also cares for aspects of the built environment sets it apart from other well-known nature conservation charities and makes straightforward comparisons with other organisations and their finances difficult. There is no other conservation body quite like it. The National Trust is a registered charity, a status which it shares with thousands of organisations large and small in the United Kingdom, from overseas aid bodies through the caring charities to organisations looking after sick animals, the nation's lifeboats - and, of course, partner conservation Non-Government Organisations (NGO's). It is independent of government and relies on the generosity of its supporters, through member-ship subscriptions, gifts, legacies and the contributions of many thousands of volunteers. It spends all of its income on the care and maintenance of the land and buildings in its protection. It enjoys a unique statutory power, enshrined in Acts of Parliament, that of being able to declare its land inalienable. Land declared inalienable cannot be voluntarily sold, mortgaged or compulsorily purchased against the Trust's wishes without special parliamentary procedure. This means that protection by the Trust is forever. Membership The National Trust's 2.6 million members provide the largest single source of the Trust's income, some £55,700,000 sterling (ESP 15,317,500,000) (see table 1). Membership recruitment is thus a very important activity with a membership department developing ever better-targeted strategies for both making and retaining members. Traditionally, the bulk of new members recruited at National Trust properties have been recruited at "house" properties, where there is an entrance fee and where the prospect of future free admission to all National Trust properties acts as a strong incentive to join. That the wider message of the importance of conservation of the countryside reaches people during their membership is indicated by the number of legacies specifically tied by the wishes of the individual benefactor to properties or activities not linked to the built environment but rather to countryside or coastal properties. A major challenge is to retain members once they have joined. The statistics indicate that someone who pays cash for their membership and who therefore needs to renew it each year by cash or cheque is ten times less likely to remain a member than someone who initially signs a banker's "direct debit". Thus part of the recruitment strategy is to encourage people to take out a direct debit, which can be cancelled at any time but which, once set up, is more likely to be left in place. Another important aspect of recruitment, is the "deed of covenant". This is an arrangement whereby, by completing an additional form and undertaking to remain a member for at least four years, the tax that the member pays on the amount of income represented by his membership description is passed by the government to the charity. If all members who are taxpayers were to take out deeds of covenant (which cost them nothing, merely redirecting their tax from the Government to the National Trust, the Trust's income would increase by £3,500,000 (ESP 962,500,000) per annum. Another challenge is to broaden the membership in demographic terms. Traditionally, the typical Nation-al Trust membership profile has been seen as somewhat middle-aged and middle class, and the average age of members has been increasing slightly. On the other hand, there is a need to involve younger age groups among whom environmental awareness is high but who are less attracted by the great houses for which the National Trust also cares and who have less disposable income The tension between retaining the older membership while broadening the appeal to a wider audience is a challenging one, and made greater by the multi-disciplinary nature of the Trust's work. It is "competing" (for members and donations) with numerous single-issue or more narrowly-focused organisations with more obvious, headline-grabbing appeal. Conversely, the National Trust increasingly finds itself targeted by single-issue pressure groups who wish to see their point of view reflected in the outlook and policies of the National Trust. A good example in recent years has been the interest taken in the Trust by those in favour of and those opposed to hunting (of foxes and deer). Small increases in membership have been noted in the period leading up to Annual General Meetings as each point of view seeks to increase its voting power. Fortunat-ely, the membership is large enough to absorb such bumps without having to change direction; nor do they make a significant difference to membership fig-ures. Policy is, in any case, made not by the vote of the membership but by the National Trust's Council. (See Table 2 for membership subscription charges). Legacies and Investment income Legacies form the next largest section of the National Trust's income (£33.3 million in 842 separate legacies in 1998-1999), followed by investment income. The National Trust may be left property or goods specifically so that these may be preserved for the nation, or it may be left land or property to sell or to provide an income. Of course land left to the Trust as investment land would not be made inalienable (see above) nor would it be of the quality that would be needed for land that was to be preserved for the nation. This led to a well-publicised case recently where the Trust proposed to sell some investment land in North Wales, a proposal which was opposed by a well-organised local campaign by people who failed to realise, or at least to acknowledge, the distinction between the two sorts of property. In the event, the National Trust decided not to proceed with this particular sale. Problems like this are rare, however, with legacies of both money and property generally providing a vital source of funds Rents, The National Trust and Agriculture - the background The majority of the Trust's 248,000 hectares is farmed by 700 tenant farmers. Income from rented property forms the fourth largest element in the Trust's income This includes income from buildings that are rented out, but the bulk of it comes from rented farms. That so much of the organisation's land-holding should consist of farmed land is a result of the evolution of the National Trust since the 1930s when it began to accept country houses and mansions on a large scale. Until then, the Trust possessed only two country houses, both in south-west England. In 1934, a suggestion was made that the National Trust try actively to rescue the numerous stately homes that were falling into disrepair in the years following the First World War. The result was the "Country House Scheme", by which the Trust accepted threatened property for preservation. The process of acquisition was greatly accelerated after the Second World War. Death duties - taxes imposed by government on inherited property- had come into existence some years before, but the new labour government, in 1945, introduced high taxes and socialist legislation. Nevertheless, it was the Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer who set up the National Land Fund which enabled the Government to accept land and houses and their contents in lieu of death duty payments. These were, in turn, passed to the National Trust for the benefit of the nation. Some owners of country houses passed them directly to the National Trust. Between 1940 and 1970, the Trust acquired 78 houses from the old landed elite. Along with these country houses came a great deal of land. Most of these stately homes owned large amounts of land, and this was also acquired by the Trust, usually for one or both of two important reasons. One was to secure the landscape setting, and to preserve the historic core of the great estates. The other was to provide an income for the maintenance of these estates. The result was that farm management became an increasingly important discipline, Broadly speaking, the National Trust owns two types of farmland. One, generally lowland, is linked to a country house or estate. The other, either in the uplands or on the coast, will have been acquired for its intrinsic landscape or conservation value, and may be unconnected with the great estates of the past. In England, where about 70 % of the land area is farmed, it is easy to understand how important our farmed landscape is for wildlife. Many of the most cherished landscapes and wildlife habitats in the United Kingdom were created largely by the interaction of agriculture and the underlying geology. To a great extent, our farmland is our countryside. The National Trust and Agriculture today Two factors have altered the outlook for the Nation-al Trust's farmed estate in recent years. One is the growing realisation of the nature conservation value of much of this selfsame farmland. This has drawn attention to the increasing incompatibility of farming land for the maximum income with that of farming it with due regard to the nature conservation interests within it. In the years after the Second World War, there was no greater benefit to the nation than the production of food, fuelled by the perceived need to strive for self-sufficiency. Nowadays, the benefit to the nation is seen increasingly in terms of providing access to the countryside, and in delivering nature conservation. This means that the drive to maximise production has to be tempered or altered to allow for a set of priorities led by conservation and sustainability. The other factor is the changing conditions of agriculture in Europe. Here too, there has been an in-creasing questioning of over-production and of an excessive reliance on subsidy, and increasing environmental concerns. Society expects more from the countryside than simply the production of food. It is valued for a range of attributes: its scenic beauty, its historic features and cultural values, its plants and wildlife and the opportunities it provides for open air recreation - the very things the National Trust was created to protect. In addition, society increasingly values clean air and clean water, and questions environmentally damaging practices. It demands food which is demonstrably safe, affordable and of good quality - produced adopting acceptable standards of animal welfare. It is the combination of all these things that now represents the contribution which the countryside is expected to make to the nation's quality of life and to the economic and social fabric of rural areas. The National Trust, through its ownership, manage-ment and partnership with its tenants, is well placed to demonstrate how agriculture can deliver this range of benefits to the nation and contribute to sustainable rural communities. The implications for farm rents at a time of falling farm incomes and increasing hardship for farmers, especially in marginal or upland areas, are obvious. Rents remain an important pillar of the Trust's finances, but, increasingly, the Trust is working with its tenants to help them to diversify into other areas of rural activity (such as tourism) or into growing specialised or organic produce which commands premium prices. Grants and Contributions The current economic plight of agriculture is partly offset by a range of payments available to farmers for undertaking environmental measures under agri-environmental schemes. The schemes available include those for Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Countryside Stewardship Schemes, and (in Wales) a scheme called (in Welsh) Tir Gofal. These grants are available to the farmer rather than to his landlord, but help to ensure the survival of the farming way of life and the rural communities and economy that go with it. On a wider scale, grants and contributions form an important part of the Trust's income. These are many and varied; important amongst them is funding for projects from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and grants or sponsorship from business and enterprise. Enterprises The National Trust's shops, restaurants, tea-rooms and holiday cottages are all managed by National Trust Enterprises. The profit they generate goes to support the work of the National Trust and in 1998-9 they contributed £1.6 million to its funds. Many Trust properties have shops offering a wide range of related merchandise and, in addition, the Trust operates a number of shops in town centres. It operates over 140 tea-rooms and restaurants, which are usually locat-ed in special old buildings such as castles, lighthouses and stables. It owns over 250 holiday cottages set in some of the most outstanding locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including former farm buildings, a lighthouse keeper's cottage, a manor house and a gamekeeper's cottage. The Trust's Enterprises have grown with the sole purpose of support-ing and promoting the National Trust's conservation work. Appeals and Gifts Appeals are most frequently associated with the purchase of new properties. When an important potential comes on the market, the National Trust needs to find not only the purchase price but also sufficient funds to ensure the future management of the property, an endowment, in other words. A classic example, within the last two years, has been the appeal to purchase a large portion of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. The actor and film star Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is of Welsh origin, pledged £1 million, a further 250,000 people contributed to the appeal, and a total sum of over £5 million was raised in less than four months. This was a remarkable example of the degree of support the National Trust enjoys among the general public, and to a wider extent (as other conservation bodies in the United Kingdom also have appeals) of the degree of support for conservation in general. There have been many appeals over the years. The Trust's most famous and successful, however, has been the Coastline appeal, which was launched in 1965 as Enterprise Neptune. In 1963, the National Trust surveyed the whole coastline of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. One third of that coastline (1,500 km) was still beautiful and unspoilt, but it was being lost to development at a rate of 10km per year. The Enterprise Neptune campaign was launched in 1965 with three aims - to save unspoilt coastline forever, to alert people to the pressures on the coast, and to raise money to buy areas of coastline. It has been out-standingly successful, and has recently been re-launch-ed. By the end of 1997, it had raised over £28 million, and the National Trust owns more than one-sixth of our coastline. The Trust's experience of coastal manage-ment has enabled it to take on a variety of new challenges, such as areas of coast in East Anglia, which are likely to be most affected by rising sea level, and a stretch of coast in Northumberland that was heavily contaminated by coal waste from the local mining industry but which is gradually returning to a natur-al state. More famous stretches of coast owned by the Trust are the Farne Islands, home to 70,000 pairs of seabirds and a large grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) population, and the spectacular Giant's Causeway coastline in Northern Ireland. Contributions also come from members in the form of local Member's Associations, who have an impressive record of success in fundraising. In 1998-9, the National Trust Centres and Associations raised £62,000 for the acquisition of an area of countryside in Lanca-shire, and contributed £250,000 to the appeal to buy Mount Snowdon. At the other end of the scale, local Associations help with the purchase of equipment for particular properties - they may help by funding any-thing from a digital camera to a minibus. The National Trust's United States membership affiliate, the Royal Oak Foundation, also has an impressive record of fundraising. In 1998, it raised over $2.6 U. S. to celebrate its 25th anniversary, specifically to support the Trust's libraries and to conserve its books. Admission Fees Admission fees to National Trust properties are one of the (relatively) smaller items on the balance sheet. There are two main reasons for this. One is that the National Trust does not charge for admission to "countryside'' properties There may be charges at car parks, but access on foot to the open countryside owned by the Trust is free. The other is that at "paying properties" admission for National Trust members is free (this being a principal incentive for joining). Membership thus acts as an annual season ticket to visit as many properties as the member wishes - which may be their local stately home once a week for a walk, or a group of properties in an area which the member might visit on holiday. Because a member who remains a member is worth far more financially to the Trust than a casual, one-off visitor, there is a major effort to recruit members at paying properties (see above, "Membership"). With such a large member-ship and such a professional and successful recruiting team, the number of "paying" visitors who manage to escape without becoming members is relatively small. Other Income The remaining items of income on the National Trust's balance sheet are quite small, the biggest being the sale of leases. The Trust finds itself owning a number of properties which, while they may not be sold, are suitable for leasing or letting, and as these include houses in very special settings there are usually people ready to accept the challenge, even if it means they have to undertake the cost of repairs as well (a so-called "repairing lease"). Together with other miscel·laneous income from properties, all these items, from membership downwards, contribute towards an annual income in excess of £180 million. This money, how-ever, is heavily committed, as the Trust spends all of its income on the upkeep of its properties. The Trust as an organisation is characterised as being "asset-rich, cash-poor". Most of its assets are such that they cannot be realised (because they are inalienable), and the cost of maintaining them continues to rise. The second part of this article looks at the ways in which the Nation-al Trust's money is spent. Volunteers - a Gift of Time Before it does so, however, we need to examine one more precious form of support which the Trust receives and which does not appear on the balance sheet. This is the "gift of time" which some 38,000 people of all ages give to the National Trust each year as volunteers. Of these, about 8,000 work at the Trust's countryside properties on a regular basis, and in addition around 4,500 people every year attend our annual programme of residential working holidays. These projects are generally for a week, and include projects for all age groups, projects for older people, and international projects. For the last 6 years, a 2-week project in August involving 20 young people from the United Kingdom and Spain has taken place at Stackpole in South Wales. This project has completed a wide range of tasks, including 2 bird-watching hides, footpath repairs, boardwalks through wet woodland and sea defences. The value to the Trust, in cash terms, of its volunteers is enormou. The importance of the volunteering ethos in the Trust can be seen right to the top of the organisation; members of the National Trust's Council and its various Committees are volunteers, and bring an impressive (and otherwise expensive) array of professional skills to the task. Maintenance By far the biggest single item of expenditure, at £85.4 million, is routine maintenance and running costs. In 1998-9, some £33.9 million of this was spent on maintenance and conservation in the countryside. The following list gives some idea of how this money might be spent at individual properties: The nature of the annual maintenance obviously varies according to the nature of the property. At a typical property (Stackpole in South Wales, the one to which the Spanish volunteers come annually) the annual maintenance list includes: In addition to staff at properties, the Trust also maintains a team of advisors covering all the necessary disciplines, from nature conservation and forestry through archaeology to the conservation of buildings and their contents. Each of the 15 regions into which the Trust is divided for administrative reasons, supports a specialist buildings department, charged with looking after all the structures on Trust properties in the area. Having experienced over the years a number of expensive repairs at large houses, the Trust is concentrating on a "little and often" approach rather than subjecting itself to large capital projects. Capital projects Everything falling outside the sphere of annual maintenance is likely to find itself being classified as a Capital Project. This category has always included a number of building projects such as repairing the roof or restoring defective stonework on an historic house. It also includes a wide range of projects large and small that are directly linked to biodiversity, with a new budget allocated specifically to biodiversity being allocated in 1998. This reflects the importance being given to this subject at both national and international level. The United Kingdom's Biodiversity Action Plan lists 1,250 species which are rare, scarce or in need of special conservation action, as well as a number of habitat types all of which, in view of its large owner-ship, are represented on National Trust property. Of the 1,250 species, 511 (or 41 %) occur on Trust property These include 10 endemic and 16 globally threatened species, as well as many internationally important species such as bluebell, Endymion non-scriptus, western gorse, Ulex gallii, and grey seal, Halichoerus grypus. Among the habitats, the National Trust owns 12 % of the chalk or limestone grassland in the United Kingdom, and 7.5 % of the lowland heathland. A variety of projects large and small have been generated by the Trust's specific responsibilities in the area of biodiversity. These range from a £2,000 project to help the water vole, Arvicola terrestris, to a multi-million pound project stretching over many years to restore and extend the ancient wetlands around the core of Wicken Fen, currently an island in a sea of intensively farmed agricultural land. At Stackpole, the Welsh property mentioned above, the current list of properties includes: Membership, publicity and education The job of marketing the National Trust and recruit-ing new members is necessarily an expensive one. Communications, public relations and educational work are all essential parts of ensuring that the Nation-al Trust gets its message across to as broad a public as possible, and that its message is targeted as effectively as possible. In addition, education is seen as an important discipline in itself and an important part of the way in which the Trust delivers the benefit of its ownership to the public. To this end, it supports a broad range of educational programmes. These include schemes to enable people from inner city or deprived areas to enjoy National Trust properties, the Young National Trust Theatre which involves children in participative dramatic reconstructions, and two residential school basecamps which enable parties of children to spend a week on a programme of environmental education and outdoor pursuits. One of these is in South Wales, the other in Norfolk in East Anglia. The total budget for the Marketing and Communications Department is some £16 million pounds per year. Acquisitions Acquisitions present the Trust with a major challenge, because every acquisition carries with it the responsibility to maintain it in perpetuity. Some years ago, a formula was worked out by Lord Chorley, a past Chairman of the National Trust, enabling a calculation to be made as to the future requirements of the potential acquisition in terms of maintenance, and thus for the necessary size of endowment to be determined. If the acquisition package does not fulfil the requirements of the Chorley Formula, the acquisition normally does not proceed. In the past, and for a variety of reasons, properties have been taken on without endowment, and these go on to become a burden on General Funds. Some are fortunate enough (perhaps through healthy entrance payments) to be General Fund in Credit properties, but some (especially if they are countryside properties, where no admission is charged) become General Fund in Deficit properties. Some new acquisitions are fortunate enough to have special trust funds set up specifically to support them; the finances of these properties are ring-fenced and immune from fluctuations elsewhere. Fashions have changed over the century. Very few large houses are taken on these days, but industrial archaeology and vernacular architecture are increasingly well represented. The push to save the coast continues apace, having received a fresh impetus from the relaunch of the Neptune Coastline campaign. Within the Coastline campaign, there is now perhaps less emphasis on saving spectacular cliff scenery (much of which has already been saved) and more on saving "soft" coastline such as salt marsh, estuary and sand dunes. Potential acquisitions are closely scrutinised (by a central committee) and assessed from the point of view of merit, degree of threat, and whether the Trust is the most appropriate owner. Increasingly, the possibilities of partnerships with other organisations are being examined. Spectacular purchases like Snowdon capture the public imagination; many smaller ones serve to fill in gaps between existing blocks of Trust ownership. Charity Administration, Income Generation, Taxation The first two of these account for £2.6 million between them and represent the technical requirements of running an enormous charitable organisation. All charities in the United Kingdom find their destinies closely linked to current Government policy, in particular in the field of taxation, and in recent years the taxation policies of successive governments have been damaging for charities in general and for the Trust in particular. The burden of irrecoverable VAT [Value Added Tax] is great, and the steady lowering of the basic rate of income tax reduces the benefit to the Trust of covenanted subscriptions and donations (see above, "Membership"). The Government is well aware of the National Trust's concerns, but does not propose to do anything to reverse the trend. Instead, its view is that charitable giving should increase to fill the gap. Conclusion The basic model for the management of the Trust's finances is unlikely to change drastically but it finds itself in a world where rapid change on many fronts is the norm. Increasingly, the work of the Trust, in managing its finances and generally, is about managing change. Agricultural policy is now made in Brussels, and the effect of the changing economic climate on the Trust and its tenant farmers has been referred to above. Whilst agriculture as an industry declines, the use of, and the pressures on, the countryside for recreation increase annually and species and habitats are coming under pressure as never before. The demand for information, and the need to keep pace with the latest methods, of delivering it, expand constantly. As membership of the Trust grows ever larger, the dangers of reaching a "plateau", whilst the costs of managing its estate continue to rise, are ever present. As it is, support for the Trust continues to grow, and it continues to enjoy a unique position of support and affection at the heart of the nation. For further information,
please visit the National Trust website at: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
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| Environmental
regulations
The management of natural areas Ignasi Doñate
i Sanglas
1 Introduction 1.1 Progressive Deterioration of the Environment The concern currently demonstrated throughout the world regarding environmental deterioration of the planet is a relatively recent phenomenon. The "Conference on the Biosphere", one of the first international meetings on this subject, was promoted by UNESCO in 1968. Within the framework of this Conference, the international scientific community collectively warned the world’s governments that the status of the environment was disquieting and that the tendency was clearly leading to a process of deterioration. What then seemed to be a catastrophist proclamation now seems more like a timid observation, given the continued deterioration. Files opened by the European Commission for infractions of the Habitats Directive (1992) in the Ebro Delta Natural Park (2000) or the emblem of ecological disaster (1998) and the deficiency of current conservation systems in natural areas such as the Doñana National Park (also a Biosphere Reserve) are only a confirmation that the negative tendencies reported by scientists more than 40 years ago persist today. Over these 40 years, data and experiences have been accumulated to the point where, today, we have the proper means to improve the management of natural systems. Now it is just a question of wanting to do so. Within the framework of a process in which the "myth" of preservation/conservation has become a reality hallmarked by the progressive deterioration of ecosystems, the need becomes urgent for new, specific and effective actions that will enable this process to be redressed. 1.2 A Tendency. From Global Thinking to Local Action The proclamation by the scientific
community gave way to global thinking, which in turn gave way to international
conferences that have progressed from the Stockholm Conference (1972) to
the Kyoto Conference (1997) on changes in the climate, without forgetting
the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992).
This process, based on environmental strategies, is not limited to the scope of the strategic definition for coherently taking on the phases of "programming", "planning", "realization" and "evaluation". Too often efforts remain within the scope of defining strategies, suffering from a critical lack of ability to act and complete inability to evaluate. When there are no monitoring or evaluation habits, it is impossible to turn the process around, due to non-identification of social resistance and inadequate comprehension of sustainable thinking. Specific models of sustainable development must be generated on territorial as well as sectorial levels. 1.3 A Process: From "Conserving Closed Natural Areas" to "Integrated Management of Natural Areas in a Broader Territorial Framework" The process of conserving natural resources began with a delimiting of "territorial areas" characterized by the wealth of their plants or their animals. These areas are subjected to strict conservation systems, which link conservation to prohibiting use of resources. These closed systems, which have almost non-existent manage-ment, have become obsolete in view of the fact that they have not been able to prevent deterioration, nor have they been able to exercise influence in changing the management models for territories considered ecosystems. The current trend is, therefore, to define broader systems of territorial management, where natural resources are integrated into residences and activities. Only in this way can the flows and processes giving life and conditioning natural resources be studied. In other words, sustainable conservation must shape "territorial planning" so that it includes "town planning" and "management of natural areas" with a broader understanding of them as mainly human areas and, therefore, subject to productive and cultural ebb and flow. 1.4 The Strategy of Landscape Ecology: Tiles, Corridors and Matrixes From a landscape ecology perspective, territorial manage-ment must include identifying structural elements of the landscape and their function within the territory as ecosystem, which will later be placed in relation to other flows and landscapes on a regional level. From this perspective the elements of landscape are tiles, corridors and the underlying matrix. Tiles are spots, or territorial surfaces with homogeneous features that are different from their surroundings. Corridors are lineal elements of the landscape that can have different functions (marginal habitats, channels of flow...), and are also called frayed tiles. The underlying matrix is the main territory in the land-scape having a certain homogeneity. As indicated by Ferran Rodà (Landscape ecology: perspectives for conservation. "Natural Parks: Beyond the Limits". Generalitat de Catalunya) underlying matrixes, because of their size, have the greatest repercussions on the ecological operation of the landscape. In this sense, sustainable management of the environment should have the priority objective of ecological management of the "underlying matrixes", as understood to be the majority territory in which basic sectorial functions develop and are concentrated. All of these functions - production, service, human habitat, transportation – completely condition the landscapes surrounding them. Second in interest, conservation policy would be concerned with the "corridors" as very biologically diverse areas that channel flows to the "tiles" themselves. Lastly, on the third level of priority, there is management of the tiles made up of the natural areas that are of special interest. In accordance with these guidelines, sustainable management of nature would include; in the first place, proper integrated territorial planning that would take environmental factors into account based on the nature of resources as well as the functions of each territory in question. In the opposite sense, conservationist policies based fundamentally on managing closed natural areas are clearly inefficient. Preserving space as "islands" in a wider, unknown sea is made more difficult by having to fight external flows that limit or even contradict the conservationist management of delimited natural areas. 1.5 Natural Areas under Special Protection and the Different Management Systems The ripening of this process towards integrated manage-ment does not, however, invalidate more specific processes of management of areas characterized by their natural resources. Having the limits of these policies made evident should in no case mean current policies of specific territorial area management should be declared incompetent. Quite the contrary, this same area management is what made evident the need to work toward more complex processes that are beginning to be possible to put into practice thanks to the accumulation of data that was previously unavailable, the application of new technologies and the growing public awareness of the need to preserve the environment. This is why different systems for managing natural areas are set out in this article. 2 Biosphere reserves The Biosphere Reserve network
was set up in 1976 under the coordination of the UNESCO "Man and Biosphere"
(MAB) Program. It is currently made up of 300 reserves distributed throughout
the world in over 82 countries.
There are four biosphere
reserve functions:
Management of the reserves is structured under three zoning categories: core, attenuating zone and transition zone. According to this management diagram, the core is the central area, where the function of resource "protection" predominates. The "attenuating zone" is that which permits certain activities, as long as they are compatible with protecting the "core". The "transition zone" is that which is summoned to put into practice models of sustainable development. Box 1. Diagram of a Biosphere Reserve in Constellation In this sense, the evolution
of reserve management begins with a primary interest in the "core" and
leads to the challenge of sustainable development that arises in the majority
territorial zones, or "transition zones".
3 Management Systems in the International Union of Nature Conservation (UICN). The initial UICN criteria
were strictly "conservationist", although this focus has progressively
leaned toward a focus that gives priority to the type of manage-ment as
a specific delimitation for a protected area.
In 1993, the UICN revised
the initial categories by keeping the first five and adding a sixth, which
left the classification of protected areas with six categories (See box
2). The results were published in the Guide to Protected Area Management
Categories. This guide is a general report on the categories of protected
area management that describes the categories and gives explanatory examples
of their applications.
Box 2. UICN categories of natural area management.
The system begun in 1978 is very confusing because names of the areas can vary in each country. For example, the term "National Park" has a different meaning, depending on the country. In fact, there are up to 140 different names for protected areas. Consequently, UICN categories are defined by management objectives, not by area name. Protected areas are set up, in accordance with a country’s legislation, in order to obtain objectives that are coherent with national, local or private objectives. They can receive UICN categories only by the management objectives they pursue. Nevertheless, UICN management categories cannot be considered compulsory, nor can they be guiding mechanisms for governments or organizations when deciding upon objectives for potential protected areas. 4 Conservation strategy of the European Union In the Communiqué The Environment in Europe: Toward What Future?" (November 1999), the European Commission took stock of the 5th Environmental Program of the European Union. Despite progress due to having new environmental management tools available, the Commission conclud-ed that the state of the environment merits concern. The 5th Program did not manage to modify the economic and social trends that negatively affect the environment. A significant example is the commitment of the European Union, adopted in accordance with the Protocol of Kyoto, to reduce CO2 emissions by 8 % between 1998 and 2012. This commitment seems clearly unattainable, and there seems to be a tendency towards increasing CO2 emissions in the future, with the increase derived mostly from the transportation sector. The problem lies in the fact than, on the one hand, economic sectors do not properly integrate environmental considerations in their management and production programs in order to attack the roots of ecological problems. On the other hand, there is a lack of participation and more clear-cut commitment on the part of the public and the parties involv-ed. In this context, European development will continue to be globally unsustainable, even if strict protection measures are established. The report by the European Commission states that "The future of environmental policy must be understood in a broader context in which environmental, social and economic objectives must be attained in a coordinated and mutually compatible way". According to the European Environmental Agency, the quality of natural European surroundings has improved in some areas, especially in regard to gradual elimination of substances that attack the ozone layer, cause acid rain, transborder air pollution and water quality. Nonetheless, nature and biodiversity
in the Community continue to be threatened by the loss of land caused by
urban expansion and road construction, as well as by current intensification
of agriculture. Other threats are those derived from the exclusion or abandoning
of agricultural practice, pollution or the introduction of exotic species.
The Natura 2000 Network will integrate the "Areas of Special Protection for Birds" (ZEPA) –indicated in accordance with the Bird Directive- with the Areas of Special Conservation (ZEC) designated in accordance with criteria from the Habitats Directive. These areas should include areas with significant landscape elements, which should function as biological corridors. However, specification of these areas should be made on local or regional levels, since this planning requires more careful on-site intervention and greater involvement from local communities. According to the European
Committee, in the future it will be necessary to give priority to the application
of the Bird and Habitats directives and to real integration of biodiversity
requirements in other policies. One important aspect will be preparing
ambitious plans in accordance with the biodiversity strategy and with Agenda
21 applications.
Box 3. Community Legislation on Protecting Natural Areas 5. Protecting natural
areas in Catalonia
5.1 Regulations on Conserving Areas in Spain In Spain, the protection of natural areas is regulated by Law 4/1989, of 27 March, on conserving natural areas and wild fauna and flora. This law was later reformed by Law 40/1997, of 5 November (BOE (Official Gazette of the Spanish State ) of 6/11/97) and modified by Law 41/1997, of 5 November (BOE of 6/11/97). The categories for protection of natural areas provided for in Law 4/1989 are as follows. National parks, parks, nature reserves, natural monuments and protected landscapes. The "national parks" category also adheres to Royal Decree 940/1999, of 4 June, approving the Rules on determining and awarding public state subsidies to areas of social-economic influence under the national parks (BOE of 18/6/99) and Royal Decree 1803/1999, of 26 November, approving the Plan Governing the network of National Parks (BOE of 13/12/99). Nevertheless, in Catalonia, which has exclusive competence in natural protected areas and special treatment in mountain areas, as per Article 9.10 of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, protected elements are those defined by Catalan legislation. Spanish regulations in the specific field of protect-ing biodiversity are included in Royal Decree 1997/1995, of 7 December and establishing measures for contributing to guarantee biodiversity by means of protecting natural habitats, fauna and flora. This decree was modified by Royal Decree 1193/1998, of 12 June (BOE of 25/6/98). 5.2 Different Levels of Protection of Natural Areas Following classification
by the Department of the Environment -DMA- of the Autonomous Government
of Catalonia, the protection system for natural areas in Catalonia has
three specific levels:
This level covers legislation of protected species, pollution control and environmental impact, water, coasts, territory, cities, etc. These regulations contain - or should contain - provisions with protectionist content for compulsory compliance throughout Catalonia. Despite the fact that this is generic protection, it is very important. Protection deficiencies in this area are what most determine natural heritage, so horizontal protection mechanisms must define strategic lines of protection in each sector. The integrated application of these strategic lines will determine the possibilities of applying effective environmental protection policies. Controlling pollution, regulating transportation, preserving species and managing water are all basic elements in any conservation policy. Failure to apply conservation principles to each and every sector would make an effective preservation policy unthinkable. 5.2.2 The Process of the "Catalan Strategy for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity" In the area of horizontal protection, following the guidelines indicated in the Agreement on Biological Diversity and in accordance with a resolution of the Parliament of Catalonia (1997) the DMA has been working since 1996 on drafting a conservation strategy. Prior to defining the strategy, the Institute of Catalan Studies made a diagnosis of the status of biological diversity in Catalonia. Structured in 55 thematic studies, it has been summarized in a final document that includes the main data from each study and a definition of the objectives proposed. In defining strategy, the System of Information on the Natural Heritage of Catalonia created by the DMA opens up new possibilities for working with a range of tools. Currently in an advanced draft stage, the "Biodiversity Data Bank" is available at < http://www.gencat.net/mediamb/pn.htm>. Likewise, the "Cartography of Habitats of Catalonia" –which is also in the draft process with completion forecast for the year 2003- will enable systemization of the protection of habitats by means of land-use and town planning, proper application of the Habitats Directive and stricter treatment of biological connections. The Inventory of Wetlands of Catalonia is also in final draft stage. Finally, the "Data Bank of Figures and Tools for Protecting the Natural Heritage of Catalonia" (PROTNAT) includes all information regarding applicable regulations and tools. Converging in the process of drawing up the strategy is the formulation of Agenda 21 in Catalonia, for which a joint yet differentiated process should be articulated and coordinated. In this process, the fact that the Department of the Environment has progressively assumed more and more competencies in matters such as protecting natural areas, fauna and flora, forest and hunting management enables it to play a key role in formulating these strategies. In accordance with the basic
strategy document, made public for World Biodiversity Day (1998), the general
objectives of the strategy should include, at least, the following elements:
5.2.3 Territorial Protection A second level of territorial protection corresponds to formulating and developing partial territorial plans and the sectorial plan for protecting natural areas. This level of protection is strategically defined in Article 4.3 of Law 1/1995, of 16 March and approving the General Territorial Plan of Catalonia: "Development of the general
territorial Plan by means of partial and sectorial territorial plans must
be carried out considering the objectives of preservation of the environment:
5.2.4 The Plan for Areas of Natural Interest (PEIN) The PEIN -approved by Decree 328/1992, of 14 December- defines and delimits a network of 144 natural areas representing the wide variety of environments and formations found in Catalonia, from the high mountains to the coastal plains and from the EuroSiberian woods to the semi-desert wastelands. The accumulated global surface of these areas is approximately 21 % of our territory. The PEIN represents a reserve of land in Catalonia with the most remarkable natural value. Applied to all delimited areas is the basic preventive system that essentially includes a particularly strict town planning system opposed to urban development processes and other measures that are likely to significantly damage the protected values. However, the PEIN is not just a passive protection tool. Starting with an individualized diagnosis of the problems involved in each area, the Plan also determines in each case the current or potential risk factors for preserving the set of natural values and the additional protection measures that need to be applied. These measures can take the form of specific norms or specific actions to be included in the development Program of the Plan. This development program has never been formulated, which is indicative of the complexity involved in any territorial definition. This is why the PEIN has never had programmed development and is, only now, completing the formulation of plans for territorial delimitation of each area. That is why, in this first development stage, most areas are still lacking a Special Plan for protection. As Josep Mª Mallarach stated in his article "Protected natural areas in Catalonia and the new conservation paradigms" ("Natural parks, Beyond the Limits". Generalitat de Catalunya. 1999) "The lack of means of the responsible agencies and the absence of an evaluation tradition in Catalonia explains why the foreseen follow-ups have not been finished, which does not allow us to learn in detail the real conditions of protected natural areas and properly characterize their trends. In an initial approximation, between 20 and 35 % of Catalonia’s protected natural areas have suffer-ed, from their official protection, losses in their habitats, landscapes, communities or species". The PEIN is a sectorial territorial
plan and, for that reason, compliance with its determinations is obligatory.
Consequently, partial territorial plans approved in the future must indicate
as natural areas of interest all those delimited by the PEIN, while establishing
the necessary provisions for their preservation, adaptation and improvement.
Likewise, the new instruments for town planning and specific planning in
high mountain areas and regions must adapt to the contents of the PEIN.
Furthermore, town councils must adapt their urban planning to the corresponding
special plans for PEIN areas within a period of two years from approval
of the plans.
The PEIN area network shall be included in the Natura 2000 European network, which will provide it with greater importance in applying community programs, and will give PEIN areas a preferential application in the Rural Development Program of Catalonia. Nevertheless, this is still quite far from an integrated approach to conserving natural heritage. The current process of concentrating a series of environmental competencies in the DMA can make it easier to develop integrated planning that must be coordinated, however, with the sectorial policies of other departments, while attracting the interest of private initiatives in a process of environmental valorisation. 5.2.5 Protecting Natural Areas of Special Protection A third level of protection
is that made up of what are generically called natural areas of special
protection. According to Law 12/1985, of 13 June on natural areas, these
are classified as "national parks", "natural areas of national interest",
"nature reserves" and "natural parks". These areas, although they are part
of the PEIN, have specific rules and individualized management.
Box 4. Tipology of natural areas under special protection according to the law on natural areas in Catalonia (Law 12/85)
The legal system of protecting natural areas in Catalonia should be updated with a proper revision of Law 12/85 on Natural Areas, introducing the criteria derived from implementing the Natura 2000 Network, Agreement on Biodiversity and the processes of sustainability that can be derived from Agenda 21. Nonetheless, the largest deficiency in regulations is, on a territorial level, in the failure to approve and develop with sustainable criteria the partial territorial plans of each of the six areas into which the territory of Catalonia is divided. However, the challenge that, above all, hovers over each and every one of the protection systems for natural areas is the challenge of management. In this sense, the major trends show special interest in management tools and in greater involvement in conservation guidelines on the part of society. Public initiative, with deficient participation, has marked limited but coherent conservation plans. The lack of involvement by private initiatives has taken away transforming ability from the planning process, turning involvement of the social body into one of the strategic poles to be continually revised. "Civilization" of the management of natural areas should be nei-ther "public" nor "private". "Civilized" management is characterized by mutual acknowledgement of "public" and "private" areas, with their respective objectives and functions, in awareness of the need to find a space for democratic "reconciliation" and, above all, a space for participation. This challenge is formulated in the trend towards "private management" with "public" criteria. From shared public strategy to concerted action. From myth to reality. From the management of closed natural areas to the sustainable management of the under-lying matrixes bound with biological corridors that give meaning to a system of protecting natural areas that are increasingly subjected to human activity but which does not have as an alternative an increasingly naturalized urban space. Bibliography: • UICN. Unió Mundial
de la Conservació. 1994. Guia del Conveni per a la Diversitat Biològica.
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