A Good Read

One of my Christmas presents was the new Richard Mabey book. There's a pleasure in reading Mabey almost independent of the subject matter and you can sit down with his books just enjoying the wonderful English and the way he puts together a viewpoint which is never forced on you. But the title of his latest book captured my interest. He argues that we are too obsessed with eradicating undesirables in our landscapes. He also gives examples of places where aggressive species have eventually been overwhelmed by native plants and trees when left to their own devices. A beautiful and wise book.

Not much wisdom on Blacka where we get the usual self serving conservationist dogma about bracken and birch being undesirable, that nature is there to be controlled and managed and this can only be done by those fully qualified and licensed to chain saw - what else from those whose career depends on this aproach.

R.A.G. Meeting

SWT's occasional Reserve Advisory Group meetings have very little value. The group has no set membership and is prone to be hi-jacked by any single interest clique such as horse riders, mountain bikers or twitchers who care little and understand less about the substantive issues. SWT are quite happy with this as it leaves them able to go their own way. Those with serious concerns may well feel that the meetings are a waste of time. But failure to attend leaves the field open for SWT to claim their own plans have support. Tomorrow's meeting is at 7 pm at Totley Methodist Church.

Next Target?

Still adjusting to the news that the power lines are soon to be gone and drunk with the wonder of it we might turn to thinking what next? Any ideas?

A drizzly day but not without interest. The colour of the bracken straw is now one of my favourite featuresof the winter months along with the lichens and the daily jackdaw spectacle.

Why Local Matters

Localism is in the news. There's even a Localism Bill going through parliament. As one MP said this must be the first official bill with an -ism as its title. All the political attention and fuss around this just now is due to a growing sense that people have very little power to affect and influence decisions in their own locality - and politicians eventually realise they have to respond somehow.

You have to feel a touch uneasy that a top down measure from central government is supposed to promote bottom up decision making.

Here on Blacka those who've fought to have a say and persisted despite negative feedback can take encouragement from the news that the high voltage power lines are to be removed. Many have grumbled in their beards over the years about this philistine encroachment marching across some of our best countryside but decided there was no chance of removing it. But some are more obstinate than others and don't accept defeat so easily. This is where local people count. Those who walk on Blacka day in day out develop a sense of custodianship akin to those who live in a beautiful village. Such people notice things and care deeply about what they see often. However much SWT would like to claim that they have the best interests of Blacka at heart, how much credibility does this have when the major focus of their work is at their office desks and they themselves live many miles from what they refer to as their 'reserve'.

Whatever we think about the present government's motives the ideas behind 'localism' as a movement are sound: those who have most say in what happens in a location should be those who genuinely know it, live in it and walk in it. Those who cry 'nimby' often have their own agenda: beware developers and big corporations used to getting their own way annoyed by local opposition. Should we really put the top down decisions of remote organisations and government itself before the detailed local knowledge and experience of those most affected?

Obsessing

The aim of SWT’s Walk on Sunday was to explain why they wish to cut trees in the woodland thereby qualifying for the English Woodland Birds grant from the Forestry Commission.

Bird watchers should come with a health warning.
Just to be clear, and for the record, I, Blacka Blogger, admit that I watch birds. Not serious bird watching by the standards of those I sometimes see for whom it takes precedence over food, family life and sex but I admire the wee things when I see them, recognise their charms and quite often manage to identify breed, species, make, year of manufacture and model number. I also confess to being seriously captivated by the musical prowess of songbirds in the Spring. But all of this stops well short of thinking the whole world should revolve around catering for their welfare. In fact one of the things I most admire about our feathered friends is their independence, opportunism and resilience.

I celebrate Blacka through its wholeness, an overall character which encompasses atmosphere, sense of place and visual natural beauty and where a balance has been achieved through evolution from the over managed stranglehold of the gamekeeper into a place unaffected by and inimical to those management ambitions existing in the urban jungle and the conservation market place.

There is less of a dispute it seems (not now anyway) that Blacka itself is just fine. That could be a sign that we are winning that argument over some at least of those who were at one time shouting that it was in UNFAVOURABLE condition. The argument in favour of intervention has shifted. It now comes down to the claim that other places aren’t as good as Blacka so certain bird species are underperforming in many other parts of the countryside. Therefore we have to accept Blacka as becoming primarily a sanctuary where every convenience is provided for these pre identified key species: in other words a through designed emporium where living quarters food outlets and all mod cons should be just so. Trees for example must be of the correct height and spacing. Swards and dwarf shrub distribution should be bespoke designed to attract the discriminating avian customer. That can be summed up in two words: MORE MANAGEMENT, or alternatively more intervention and more projects funded by grants from anyone who can be persuaded to part with the money preferably without asking too many questions.

Several things are wrong with this:
1 Here at Blacka we have so much just right that has happened because management was absent. The idea that bringing more management back will improve things is to fail to learn the lesson of the recent past.
2 The extended consultation exercise carried out a few years ago came up with a number of conclusions. One that had unanimous support was that there should be minimum intervention
3 There is a special quality to land which has been allowed to develop naturally over many years. It has an integrity not experienced where constant interference happens. But there’s so little land free from managers that the few places where nature is unshackled by managers comprise an endangered phenomenon just as scarce, perhaps even more so, than the Black Grouse or the Dartford Warbler.

End is Nigh for One Eyesore

Excellent and unexpected news from CPRE. Against all predictions and what we thought was a vain hope the High Voltage power line cutting across Blacka could be gone very soon. Apparently the finance for the undergrounding and routing along the roadside is all sorted and it is a question of the contractors fitting it in with their plans. I can hardly believe this because when we first decided to make tentative enquiries not long ago, the idea was that we might as well raise the matter even if it took 20 years. At that time YEDL were the one electricity company in the country who were wanting nothing to do with any of this landscaping work.
This is such a welcome surprise (and in the present 'climate' too) that we'll probably have to keep fingers crossed until it's all done.

Also it's a reminder of the power of our vision that Blacka's great strength is the sense of wildness that it still retains, something compromised by the power lines and soon to be enhanced when they go, enabling Blacka to capture the imagination of those who yearn for landscapes free from intervention and exploitation.
Dare we open a bottle?

Family Silver

I've had no reply from Nick Clegg nor yet acknowledgement to my letter of 1st January. That's the one expressing concern about the selling off of NNRs. I shall remind him about that when I write with concern about another proposed sale of more of our countryside's family silver. This is the sale of 150,000 hectares of national forest currently managed by the Forestry Commission. These are important public assets and selling them off to private buyers risks our never again having a chance to influence the way they are managed.

There is also the little matter of taxation.