The Landscape Declaration

1st October, 2013

National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty from across the UK have declared that landscape should once again be high on the agenda. The following declaration was made at the conference of the UK Association of National Park Authorities in September 2013:

 

The Landscape Declaration

Made at the UK National Parks conference, North York Moors, September 2013

 

Landscapes define people and nations. They are constantly evolving and are valued more than ever. A growing national and international population, climate change and globalisation mean that without appropriate action the distinctiveness of landscapes will be eroded more rapidly over the next decade.

 

We believe that:

• Landscapes matter to individuals and communities. They are homes to return to, places of escape, places of pride. They bring belonging and sharing of experience

• People should be involved in decisions which affect landscapes they have a stake in, especially those they live in

• Landscapes should be celebrated for their contemporary value

• Wildlife, cultural heritage and the historic environment are essential elements of landscape and central to the sense of place

• The aesthetic and spiritual qualities of landscapes should be valued alongside the economic and material ones

• Landscapes have huge economic value from their aesthetic qualities as well as their productive ones

• Retaining and enhancing the distinctiveness of places should be an aim of policy across all landscapes

• Maintaining tranquil and ‘wild’ places is increasingly important as our population grows

• Some change in landscapes is in general both inevitable and desirable – but a good appreciation of what is there now is important before undertaking change. The nature and speed of change and the capacity to accommodate it are critical factors in its desirability

 

We believe that Protected Landscapes should play their part in promoting the importance of landscape generally.

 

We believe that the following areas need further thought:

 

• How to translate Landscape Character Assessments into a form which can be readily used in decision taking

• How to identify positive change in landscape, for its own sake and from the productive industries within it

• Whether such positive changes can be actively planned for or should be the result of public participation in individual decisions

• Finding new ways to help people understand and enjoy landscape

• Management of the coast – interface of sea and land – needs better integration

 

We variously undertake to:

 

• Consider how greater economic benefit and employment can be achieved from special landscapes without harming the things that make them special, and act on these conclusions

• Use the breadth of understanding that landscape appreciation brings to inform our decision taking on matters including recreation, forestry and planning

• Strive harder to make special landscapes and seascapes relevant to everyone.

• Manage land positively to enable tourism to operate with minimum impact

• Give greater emphasis to landscape quality and good design in decision making

• Ensure that our landscapes become richer in wildlife

• Develop our work on landscape evaluation and continue to monitor change in the landscape

• Maintain an appropriate level of skills to make good judgements on landscape

• Share our understanding and experience with all other landscapes including those valued locally

• Use our landscapes as a means of engaging people with all aspects of the natural and cultural environment

• Ask our Governments to consider carefully the importance of the settings of our Protected Landscapes.