The importance of
wilderness and wildland
Lecture outline:
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experiencing wilderness
wilderness values
wilderness and sustainability
seminar: why is wilderness necessary
for global survival?
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1. Experiencing wilderness
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Wilderness as:
- a state of (wild) nature?
• Ecological definitions
• Socio-psychological definitions
- a state of mind?
- an experience?
“Wilderness is what men think it is.” (Nash,
1982)
“One man’s wilderness is another’s roadside
picnic ground.” (Nash, 1982)
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2. Wilderness values
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Multiple values ascribed to wilderness
- Natural
• ecosystems
• wildlife habitat
- Scientific
• gene pool
• natural laboratory
- Sociological
• recreation
• psychological
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“I had trouble deciding on where the wildest
place I have ever been is, since the wildest place
and what felt like the wildest place may
necessarily not coincide. I eventually decided to
opt in favour of the latter, as it was a more
interesting experience!”
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“..the island is not very big but there was still a
sense of remoteness at times and being in certain
parts of the landscape could still make you feel
very small and insignificant.”
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“Looking out and seeing nothing but trees and
rocks until the horizon made it feel wild. It is such
an enormous area with no human interruption… I
remember it being almost silent too, apart from
the sound of a few birds and other wildlife.”
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“…being out in a wilderness has a certain satisfaction
about it. It gives you a chance to get some fresh air and
helps to relieve some of the stress of living in modern
civilisation.”
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“Compared to the U.K. the area was a wilderness;
there were no roads, footpaths or houses to be
seen during the six weeks, if we needed to be
rescued it could take days or even weeks, and the
fact that a riffle needed to be carried around with
party in order to ensure our safety against wild
animals all added to the wilderness experience.”
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“I think that Rannoch Moor has shaped my idea of
wilderness as being a place where I am completely
alone and very vulnerable to what nature can
throw at me, also being a place where you can see
no refuge or way out makes it feel very desolate.”
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Preservation on the basis of value
- many wilderness values based on use
- e.g. US Wilderness Act (1964) that
wilderness is to be preserved for the...
“use and enjoyment as wilderness... (by) the
American people of present and future
generations.”
- “Anthropocentric” view
- most threats to wilderness from human use
- need to understand wilderness use in order
to manage effectively
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Types of use:
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Problem:
- many types of wilderness use
- variety of use reflects variety of values
- varying dependence
- how measure degree of wilderness
dependency?
- subjective
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Categories of wilderness use:
- recreational
- commercial
- scientific
- educational
- therapeutic/developmental
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Recreational use
- Most obvious and common
- Greatest impact
- Greatest management challenge
- Wilderness recreational activities:
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hiking and horse riding
river trips
mountaineering
ski touring
hunting and fishing
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Impact varies with group size
Sub-categories of recreational
activities:
- public
- commercial
- indirect
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Most peoples experience is indirect
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Indirect recreational use
- Second-hand enjoyment through:
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TV programmes and films
reading material and lectures
staying at resorts near to wilderness
- 3 associated wilderness values:
1. option value (option to visit)
2. existence value (knowing its out there!)
3. bequest value (saving it for out children)
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Clawson (1963) - more to the
wilderness experience than just being
there
Phases of wilderness experience:
- planning and anticipation
- travel to wilderness (outbound)
- being there
- travel from wilderness (the return home)
- recollection (memories)
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Scientific use
- Wilderness as a laboratory offering natural
and unmodified conditions
- Increasing importance with shrinking
wilderness areas
- Wilderness dependent
- Examples:
• pollution monitoring
• predator-prey relations
• global environmental change
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Educational use
- Wilderness often used for education:
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field trips
study areas for theses/dissertations
source of instructional examples
- Specialist courses teaching wilderness
skills and values
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NOLS in USA
Outward Bound in UK
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Commercial use
- Commercial uses include:
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mining and oil/gas
logging
water developments
livestock grazing
recreational developments
- Limited in number
- Zero (mostly) wilderness dependency
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2. Wilderness values (cont’d)
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Therapeutic/developmental use
- Wilderness setting for therapeutic and
personal development programmes
- Deliquents and mentally ill (supposedly)
benefit from such programmes:
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relief from everyday stresses
group support and independence
- Normal healthy people also benefit:
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personal development and self discovery
self reliance and personal awareness
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Thought:
What about wilderness for
wilderness’ sake?
i.e. a “biocentric” view
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3. Wilderness and
sustainability
 Uneven distribution of wilderness
- spatial pattern and scale
- maps
 Scarce resources need protection
 Protection requires management
 Wilderness management is COMPLEX
 Many problems - many potential
solutions
- compatibility issues
- depending on geographical context and
institutional setting
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13 principles of wilderness management
1.
2.
3.
4.
Manage as one environmental extreme
Manage as a composite resource
Manage under a non degradation concept
Set carrying capacities to prevent unnatural
change
5. Manage in co-ordination with adjacent lands
6. Apply only minimum tools to achieve objectives
7. Focus on threatened sites/damaging activities
8. Involve the public in all stages
9. Manage users rather than the environment
10.Manage to produce environmental and human
benefits
11.Favour wilderness dependent activities
12.Guide management with written plans
13.Monitor to evaluate effectiveness of actions
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3. Wilderness and sustainability
(cont’d)
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The “Management Paradox”
- To manage or not to manage?
• let nature take its course
• or ‘play’ at nature
- Risk of degradation vs loss of true
wilderness
- Paradox:
• don’t manage - loose wilderness
• manage - loose wilderness
- Compromise required
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Question:
What is the answer to the
management paradox?
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3. Wilderness and sustainability
(cont’d)
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Sustainable use and/or sustainable
development?
- sustainable use of the wilderness resource
• appropriate/careful management within
carrying capacities
• non-degradation principle
• in co-ordination with adjacent lands
• using minimum intervention tools
• favour wilderness dependent activities
- development of new habitats/wildlands
• “Re-wilding” or habitat re-creation
• E.g. The Wildlands Project
http://www.wildlandsprojectrevealed.org/
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Thought:
OK, but why do we NEED
wilderness?
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Reading
Hendee et al (1990) Wilderness
management. Fulcrum Publishing,
Colorado. [esp. Chapters 3-5, 14-16]
Brockman, F & Merriam, L.C (1973)
Recreational use of wildlands. McGraw-Hill,
New York.
Hampton, B & Cole, D (1988) Soft paths.
Stackpole Books.
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Workshop
“In wildness is the preservation of
the world”
Henry David Thoreau
Discussion: Why is wilderness
necessary for global survival?
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Task
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Research and example of a wilderness
ecosystem
- Search the web for:
• Web site focusing on example of wilderness
ecosystem (e.g. deserts, mountains, polar,
marine, etc.)
- Think about the following:
• what makes that particular ecosystem ‘wild’
• how does it differ from human
dominated/modified systems?
• what are the key processes, relationships or
trends that make it interesting?
- Submit web link in email by Monday
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Next week...
3. Wilderness ecosystems
 What: flora and fauna
 Where: biogeographical zones and
ecosystem mosaics
 Processes: cycles, pyramids and
relationships
 Trends: extinctions, re-introductions
and climate change
 Workshop: Guest lecture by Mark
Fisher, Self-Willed Land
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