'Guardianship' and the 'Rural Workshop'--The First Quarter- century of U.K. Experience in Nature Conservation

摘要

In the U.K., the Countryside Act of 1968 represented the first "updating" of the pioneering National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949. Through the archival material that survives for the Ministry of Agriculture and Nature Conservancy, the paper commemorates that first quarter-century of post-war adjustment to the needs of farming and wildlife conservation. It does so through a case study of the documented discussion, both inter-agency and within separate counsels, of whether agricultural improvement grants should be paid for land scheduled as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). The post- war assumptions of both parties were shattered by clashes over the SSSIs of Cavenham Heath (Suffolk) and Waddingham Common (Lincolnshire).