Plea for soul of national parks

Press, 30 April 1988, Page 5

Plea for soul of national parks

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

A plea for New Zealand not to sell the soul of its

national parks has come from Mr Eric Bennett, for many t years a regular writer of “Letters to the Editor," but these days a ijesident of the Isle of Bute in Scotland. ' He warned against selling the soul of the Rational parks concept, ijlone in the guise of funding for tourism interests, but actually to the detritnent of scientific and monitoring work.

( In Britain it was unhelpful to divorce nature conservation, from landscape protection, and to have them administered by separate organisations.

( During the period 195157. 10 national parks had peen established in England and Wales, but proposals for five parks in (Scotland had not been implemented. Mr Bennett said. Britain was a longdeveloped and denselyIpopulated country in (which nearly all the land iwas privately owned. It (had no opportunity of

creating national parks in the New Zealand sense of State-owned, i pristine areas of unaltered natural environment. I

Thus the national parks in Britain only) qualified under International Union for the Conservation of Nature (and Natural Resources ((1.U.C.N.) criteria as "protected landscapes" and 250.000 people lived within their boundaries, he said.

As well as agriculture, exotic forestry.) quarrying and construction, military exercises, and j other activities. I Britain's national parks) had suffered from excessive tourist development and much of the paraphernalia of suburbia. ’ J ?

Last year, Mr Bennett said. the international Standing of ' Britain's national .park formal was treated with tin application for recognition of the Lake District as a World Heritage site. !

It had been (hoped that the Lake District National Park would be approved as a "mixed Jsite" — a modified landscape still having great rural' beauty with a rich cultural heri-

tage. But the World Heritage Committee turned down thb application, Mr Bennett Isaid.

It did 'agree to consider the Lakes District again as a purely-"cu!tural site." and said the British nationals park system was provided, with insufficient statutory controls for any sort of ''national site" recognition to be possible.

Mr Bennett said there was continuing pressure for the creation of national parks in Scotland as a tourist attraction. "This is seen as a potential economic cureall. particularly for the Highlands." he said.

Both i conservationists and trampers were totally opposed because national parks were being promoted as a means of exploiting the landscape rather than protecting it.

All the evidence from the national parks in Wales and England was that relentless publicity, tourist development and pressure from people were rapidly destroying the integrity of the landscape and much of the parks' intended value, Mr Bennett said.