In Spite Of .................

The best things about Blacka are those things that have happened of their own accord or in spite of any programme of management. This scene is the better for the removal of the power lines something that SWT's manager initially opposed. It was Friends of Blacka Moor who argued for it.

It was when their management failed and their stewardship agreement with Natural England was not complied with that we could enjoy a variety of attractions. Flowers, grasses waving in the wind, a more natural aspect numerous delightful unplanned and natural felicities. The unmanaged is everything on this site despite the propaganda put out by the petty functionaries of the conservation industry. What did they do to bring back the deer? 

What did they do to instigate the removal of the power lines? So non-intervention in their case applies only when it’s something worthwhile. Intervention is what they do when they change things for the worse. So much for the words of the Natural England officer who said in public that Blacka Moor is “nothing without conservation”. Not much agreement there then! To me the unmanaged is everything. To them it’s nothing without management (aka conservation.)

What credibility does a so called profession have when it spews forth such garbage? The conservation industry is in effect little more trustworthy than the PR department of a supermarket which would have us believe the world would implode without their promotions bogoffs and loyalty cards. One thing they have in common is that ‘every little helps’ – keep chugging away with message, bit by bit and people will fall in line and believe them. Some pretty nasty precedents for this kind of brainwashing.

Intervention and non intervention as opposed positions make an appearance in the submissions to the so-called ‘consultation’ by the National Trust on the High Peak uplands which inevitably has influenced the Sheffield Moors. Amid the predictable rent-a-comment contributions from the shooting industry a few respondents are recorded as asking for non intervention. The NT management responds with a most unsatisfactory statement, thus.

Non-intervention 

This is where land is left unmanaged and nature allowed to run its course. The moorlands of the High Peak are semi-natural, being a product of human intervention, and because of the cultural, historical and social importance of the moors, we are unlikely to allow non-intervention to take place for the foreseeable future unless as part of a controlled experiment. Furthermore, the habitats and species on the moors are, in the main, sustained by interventions such as grazing and therefore these practices are important in this respect.
Nevertheless, it may be appropriate to establish a non-intervention reference area, all other factors considered, to demonstrate the advantages or disadvantages of non-intervention.

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