Landscapes for Life 2019 - Conference Summary and Afterthoughts

Many conferences are celebratory in nature, they showcase work, highlight success and provide a platform for industry experts to praise these accomplishments. But the 2019 Landscapes for Life conference, this year hosted by the Dedham Vale and Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONBs seemed less focused on where we have been and more focused on where we are going.

In May this year the UK Parliament declared a climate change emergency, and with recent studies predicting a global temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius by 2030, now is clearly the time to act on climate change. But it's not just climate change we need to worry about. A 2019 study, which gathered data over a period of three years, found that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history.

The UK Government's 25 Year Environment Plan sets out ambitious goals for 'improving the environment within a generation and leaving it in a better state than we found it'. Key goals include:

• 'safeguarding and enhancing the beauty of our natural scenery and improving its environmental value while being sensitive to considerations of its heritage.
• managing and reducing the impact of existing plant and animal diseases; lowering the risk of new ones and tackling invasive non-native species
• continuing to cut greenhouse gas emissions including from land use, land use change, the agriculture and waste sectors and the use of fluorinated gases'

It is therefore of no surprise that the key theme of the 2019 conference was 'outstanding beauty, outstanding opportunity'. The following paragraphs summarize just some of the keynote speakers.

Dame Fiona Reynolds, Master of Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. 'The Value of Natural Beauty at a Time of Environmental Challenge'.

Fiona's solution to the current crisis is to inspire us through the beauty of the world around us. Fiona explained how ideas about beauty have arisen and evolved, been shaped by public policy and been lost in the modern world of today. One great example was the use of the British landscape in call to arms posters during the world wars, demonstrating the beauty of the landscape and that its beauty was worth fighting for.

Incidentally, 2019 also marks the 70th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. Following the Second World War, the government set up committees to examine long-term land use which led to ‘nature preservation’ becoming part of the post-war reconstruction effort. Thanks to the pre-war campaigns, such as the one higlighted above, there was an emphasis on making countryside available for recreation for all, not just nature conservation.

The primary purpose of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) is to conserve and enhance natural beauty and the term natural beauty was enshrined in the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. At this time there was still a romantic idea of beauty and the beauty in these protected landscapes was self evident as these areas represented 'nature', as opposed to the city. In reality most of the vegetation covering AONBs is not natural, but semi-natural or cultivated.

But is it right to conserve places just because they are perceived as beautiful? As the saying goes 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', and these conservation efforts might be protecting just one version of beauty. Furthermore, to what extent is a place beautiful if it has lost other key characteristics or connections to nature? Is a landscape still beautiful with no wildlife in it?

Jules Pretty, Professor of Environment and Society , University of Essex. 'Impacts of Nature on Health and Wellbeing'.

It has long been known that there are synergistic benefits of engaging in physical activity in natural environments. Exposure to the natural environment has been proven to have a positive effect on mental health, whilst regular physical activity can decrease morbidity rates by 30-50% and has a protective effect against type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and some types of cancer.

The key to these health and well being benefits is engaging people at a young age in order to create good habits. But in a world where children (aged 5 to 15) spend more than two hours a day online and four out of five UK children are 'not connected to nature' how can we make this connection?

But it's not just children who are struggling to connect with nature. One example was given where an adult drove to a public footpath and pulled up in the layby to park, only to find the gate to the footpath closed, and drove home again. So how can we encourage adults to make this connection with nature, particularly those from cities?

Craig Bennett, Chief Executive Officer, Friends of the Earth. 'Rising to the challenge of climate change in our landscapes'.

In my opinion Craig Bennett's speech was one of the most interesting of the conference. Craig gave us an insight into Friends of the Earth's previous campaigns and highlighted their new 'Double UK tree cover' campaign.

Trees play an incredible role in sequestering carbon, but despite their importance, just 13% of the UK’s total land area has tree cover (compared to an EU average of 35%).

Friends of the Earth believe one of the best solutions to achieve net zero emissions is to double UK forest by 2045, but what would this look like? and where would all these trees go? It was suggested that all of the Grade 4 Agricultural Land could be used to plant trees, but despite its poor quality, much of this land is currently used to selected grow arable crops.

England’s 14 Green Belts cover more than a tenth (12.4%) of land in the country, and another suggestion was to 'green' the Green Belt. But again, much of the Green Belt land is extremely valuable for food production. So where would all of these trees go?

There are further questions surrounding this idea, which has gained traction in recent months, with ash dieback and xylella on top of increasing temperatures and more extreme weather events are native trees the right trees? or would mediterranean trees be more suitable? The use of mediterranean species would have a marked impact on landscape character but would improve resilience, so where should the line be drawn?

And with pressure to meet government housing targets it's not just a case of where these trees will go, but also who will fund it.

National Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Colchester Declaration.

The conference culminated with a pledge by all AONBs to to protect what remains and recover what has been lost - an undertaking that is being dubbed the 'Colchester Declaration'.

The key opportunities for AONBs were listed as:

• Nature Resource
• The current state of nature
• The future state of nature
• England nature recovery target

So, what is the role of the landscape professional in all of this? The landscape profession has long been at the forefront of climate action by designing and promoting the creation of adaptive and resilient places. As highlighted above, the landscape has a significant role to play in reducing carbon emissions and boosting resilience to the effects of climate change in the future.

As highlighted within the Landscape Institute's 'Carbon and Landscapes' Technical Information Note 'landscape professionals can help reduce excess carbon emissions, based on knowledgeable and holistic consideration of the environmental issues and not just relying on enhancing the natural sources. It is relevant that plants and trees, the ocean and land can absorb CO2..., but the goal for practitioners would be to create interventions that not only reduce CO2 emissions, but also support the natural sinks'.

But this alone is not enough, the key strength of landscape architect's is to educate, design, and spread awareness about such concepts through the daily routine and assist in the mitigation as well as adaptation of the climate challenges.

One such example is the Citael Bridge in Nijmegen. During high tide the bridge floods allowing the visitor to cross using stepping stones, whilst at the same time spreading awareness on the effects of climate change.

So, the key message of the conference? It's time to stop talking and time to start acting collaboratively for a better future.