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Nature conservation
versus leisure demands:
PROGRESS launches a transnational solution
 After a year of intensive
preparation, PROGRESS – a pioneering INTERREG IIIB project which could reshape
recreational habits across North West Europe – is now up and running.
Joint-funded by the European Regional Development Fund,
PROGRESS (Promotion and Guidance for Recreation on Ecologically
Sensitive Sites) is a four-year, €3.7 million initiative designed to balance the
needs of nature conservation against the burgeoning pressures of 21st-century
leisure demands.
It will examine the impacts
arising from these interaction of these issues at two internationally important
Natura 2000 sites, England's New Forest and the Forêt de Fontainebleau in
France, and devise possible solutions to the problems, which will be put into
practice through pilot schemes.
One key aspect of the
project will be the strong involvement of local communities and stakeholders at
both locations, an essential factor in winning public support, getting messages
across and making any new strategies successful on a long-term basis.
Representatives of many vital stakeholder groups joined
partner members for the project's high-profile launch at the Rhinefield House
Hotel, in the heart of the New Forest. The event was arranged and hosted by
PROGRESS's lead partner, the UK Forestry Commission, but included more than 70
guests from its four other members – France's Office National des Forêts and
Comité Départemental du Tourisme, the Countryside Agency in the UK, and Dutch
research institute Alterra, plus representatives of their key stakeholder
groups.
Also present were members of the steering
group, a panel of land management experts drawn from France, the UK, Belgium and
the Netherlands which will guide and review the work of the project as it
develops, and provide the link into the wider European network of land managers
who share the same issues.
Alongside many of the
formative project meetings which took place at the event, many of the overseas
guest were treated to a tour of the New Forest, visiting some of the popular
recreation facilities and vulnerable wildlife habitats which will come under the
PROGRESS spotlight.
Then it was
onto the formal launch ceremony itself, which outlined the goals of the
initiative and its importance for the future conservation of other similar sites
across North West Europe.
The day received widespread coverage in the local
press, and initial feedback from stakeholders on both sides of the Channel has
been very positive.
Tony Climpson, New Forest District Council tourism
officer, commented: “We have been working for many years with recreation and
tourism interests to tackle the huge question of recreation and access
management, and this project comes as extremely welcome news.
“The key issue of visitor volumes and their enjoyment of the
forest is one that we can now tackle collectively and with some funds at hand,
and I look forward to working together with all our partners.”
John Thackray, chairman of the New Forest
Ramblers Association, was also enthusiastic.
“I think a European exchange has
got to be beneficial for both forests, and will help to broaden our horizons,”
he said.
“We need to strike more of a balance between recreational
interests and conservation, and the project offers a good opportunity to look at
a number of important practical and strategic issues.”
Philippe Schwab, office of
tourism president for Fontainebleau said: “The launch event allowed us to
discover a forest different from Fontainebleau but, at the same time, similar to
it in key issues such as high levels of recreation, since both forests are quite
near to big towns.
“The office of tourism is willing to develop opportunities
of exchange between associations, schools and residents of Fontainebleau and the
New Forest.”
Gabriel Carlier, president of the
Association of the Naturalistes de la Vallée du Loing, Fontainebleau, added: “I
found that the ideas behind the project are very good. It allows different
stakeholders dealing with natural, sensitive sites to meet and exchange ideas
and experiences.
“To share with other European
countries in order to find solutions to the issue of degradation of sensitive
sites by recreation represents for us a good initiative, with an open-minded
attitude.”
Gilbert
Detollenaere, from the Association des Amis de la Forêt de Fontainebleau, said
the project would “allow us to understand the issues which need to be tackled,
to develop a recreation strategy compatible with the preservation of the forest.
“The
volunteer program promoted in the New Forest could be an efficient solution to
test in Fontainebleau, to reinforce the information available to the
public.”
PROGRESS is now well underway, with a
project team based at the Forestry Commission offices in Lyndhurst working
towards its early objectives.
A key initial phase
will be groundbreaking, comprehensive surveys of visitor use patterns across
both the New Forest (where it will be carried out by the Countryside Agency) and
Fontainebleau during 2004. For the first time, these will record in detail why
people use the forests, how often, where they go and what they do when they are
there.
This data will then be fed to the staff at
Alterra, who will use it to create a detailed computer model highlighting the
spatial interaction of sensitive habitats and recreational use, and predicting
any disturbance or erosion which may result.
Maps
will be produced identifying the locations of greatest impact, and options for
re-directing the public will be tested before pilot schemes for changes are
fully discussed with stakeholders.
The Fontainebleau
stakeholders have already met on two occasions, while the first New Forest forum
meeting is scheduled for January 2004, giving representatives from local
communities, agencies and user groups more detailed information about the
project and their key role in its development.
This will also involve efforts to improve communication and
public education about the forest, promoting a more responsible use of
the landscape and long-term, sustainable leisure use. Part of the work towards this
will include the development of a project website in conjunction with Alterra,
together with brand new, map-based interactive web pages geared specifically to
the New Forest, and the creation of a tourist information centre at one of
Fontainebleau's busiest sites.
Comprehensive best
practice guides will be put together spanning all user groups and tourists in
both forests, while the New Forest will also see the expansion of its community
volunteer programme and special programmes for local schoolchildren.
All project
members are working closely together, and the trans-national co-operation aspect
was further strengthened when the French partners played host to Forestry
Commission and Alterra team members during a recent fact-finding mission in
Fontainebleau.
Over two days, the visitors were given first-hand insight
into the nature of the forest, its leisure facilities and the erosion pressures
facing popular locations such as the boulder-strewn Carrefour du Bas Bréau, near
Barbizon.
While there were a number of intriguing
differences between the forests, the common dilemmas and problems they face were
all too apparent – reaffirming how the great opportunity offered by PROGRESS
could provide some effective, long-term solutions which could echo across North
West Europe for decades.
Project Manager, Bruce Rothnie, concluded by saying:
“The project will provide an outstanding opportunity for countryside
land managers from across North West Europe to share in developing solutions to
the management of people on our most sensitive landscapes
.
“We want people to enjoy and learn
about these wonderful places, but in a way that demonstrates responsibility and
care, and leaves them in a better condition for future generations.”
Jonathan Slater, Forestry Commission
Project
Communications Manager
jonathan.slater@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Project Recreation Ranger
helen.chalk@forestry.gsi.gov.uk |
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