My response to DEFRA's draft Vision on the Natural Environment.
Discussion Topic 1: Why we value the environment
The values given in the Vision for the natural environment are characterized by an anthropocentric resourcism that objectifies all of nature, including wildlife, as human commodities to be used with little restriction. This is perhaps inevitable when the context of the Vision given by Defra is Natural Resource Protection, so that the values are related to resources for human benefit and survival.
Wilson, as an entomologist, would probably declare that we can find nature wherever we look – he has said "Most children have a bug period, and I never grew out of mine". Our appreciation of the natural environment thus depends on how "untrammeled" (wild?) nature has to be to meet the needs of individuals and society – and as importantly the needs of wild nature.
Many countries have a wildland philosophy and policies that spring from it. Our lack of such a philosophy is ultimately due to the overwhelming historical cultural influence on landscape in Britain. However, organizations in Scotland have begun to grapple with this, producing policies or statements on wild land, i.e. John Muir Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage and National Trust for Scotland. There is also a definition of wildland in Scottish planning policy guidance.
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