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Why Declare a Local Nature Reserve?
Prior to 2000, Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) had only declared one LNR and that was back in the mid 1980’s. Then English Nature began its push on LNRs and dangled the best carrot of all - money. Like many local authorities EFDC Countrycare took the bait and since 2000 we have now declared 8 new LNRs. But what has their declaration actually achieved? This is a personal perspective on what has happened to “our” sites.
Raising the profile
LNR status has certainly helped to raise the profile of the Service, the sites
themselves and the awareness of them within the local community. The sites were
always there, but not necessarily being managed to their full potential. It
was quite sad how often I heard someone say; ”I never knew that was there?”
and they lived just a street away. Clearly, I was doing something wrong before!"LNR
status has certainly helped to raise the profile of the Service"
The recruitment of local volunteers has improved and it has also helped to focus our attention on how we engage with the local community. Certainly, a big impact was on Councillors. The very fact that reports for the LNR declarations had to go to through them meant the subject got debated and discussed. It also offered Councillors a good news story to be associated with and to put their support behind.
Finance
The very word “nature reserve” does create a more positive image
in peoples’ minds. Certainly this was the case with local businesses and
it was noticeable that they seemed more willing to provide gifts in-kind or
discounts on their goods and services as we worked to improve the sites. In
exchange we gave them publicity and put various logos on new on-site interpretation.
Positive relationships have developed from there.
Financially, the sites have benefited too. Over £50k hard cash has been received from outside bodies like English Nature and others over a 4-year period. It has also focused budgets internally and an annual maintenance budget for the LNRs and events on them has been established.
A secure future?
It is only natural that people come and go in jobs. I have been in post 13 years
- but what if I went? Again, through lack of time (an excuse?) or motivation,
many of the management plans for the sites were poorly written with much of
the annual work programme in my head! As a result of the LNR process, each site
now has a proper 5 year plan that has been out for consultation with the local
“Friends of” groups, the volunteer teams and parish councils. I
now feel at least the sites are as secure as they could be in the long term.
The authority now has a statutory duty and our Countrycare team has developed the expertise and experience to manage our LNRs properly. Countryside management is no longer an optional add-on. It needs to be recognized as a service with statutory responsibilities. A properly funded countryside management service is now essential if we are to continue to meet our statutory responsibilities and just as importantly, the expectations of our communities.
Conclusions
It’s not been rocket science and I am sure other areas were more on the
ball than us to start with, but the whole process certainly has focused our
attention on the sites that perhaps we all took for granted. Hopefully, we now
have some quality open-space that people want to visit and more importantly
care for! As the southeast of England comes under increasing pressure for development,
at least LNRs are on the map and if set up properly with "Friends of"
and volunteer groups they do carry political weight.
Paul Hewitt
Countryside Manager
Countrycare - Epping Forest District Council