Water and wetlands: their conservation and re-creation in a social landscape - the vital role of project champions

摘要

Awareness of environmental sustainability and biodiversity issues at local and governmental levels has undoubtedly grown in recent years. This paper presents information from case studies of wetland conservation, restoration, and recreation as part ofthe South Yorkshire Biodiversity Research Programme. It considers issues of water quality, the impacts of industrialisation and urbanisation on hydrology, and the ecological consequences of the gross environmental changes of the last five hundred yearsin South Yorkshire. It relates also to initiatives such as the River Rother Wildlife Strategy. Historically the River Don catchment provided the means for industrial development in the region. In part associated with this has been a rapidly expanding population around the urban Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster areas. This placed increasing pressures on the lower catchment for urban-fringe land uses such as housing, road building, quarrying and landfill (Moss, 1995). Heavy industry has now declined dramatically (steel-based employment in the Lower Don Valley in Sheffield for example, declined from 40,000 to 13,000 jobs between 1975 and 1988, leaving a legacy of dereliction). Importantly, people now have more time for, interest in, and accessto, leisure pursuits. Many of these are focussed on the rivers and wetland of the region. Wetland conservation sites around urban areas provide access to nature and many other leisure activities. This is seen as increasingly important for quality of life, and of also of local and regional economic significance. This imparts a conservation message important in today's individualistic and consumerist society. Recovery of the region has involved major changes in socio-economic profiles, from heavy industry to a largely post-industrial scenario. It has also been characterised by a shift from grossly derelict and polluted environments, to the re-emergence of wetlands and waterways on a significant scale. These sites and their projects deliver environmentalimprovement and also potential for countryside recreation and wetland-based tourism. This study reports on the critical role of project champions in safeguarding sites, in identifying opportunities, and in driving progress to successful major initiatives. This vital contribution of the individual is often over-looked, forgotten, or simply ignored in and landscape that is increasingly subject to policies, strategies and over-arching targets. Be it community, agency, or NGO the committed individual is often the key.