The second Part of our vision and the last of our 6 Heritage week blog posts
Part 2 The vision for people, communities & amenity
The establishment of a
landscape scale wetland would bring with it many benefits for people,
communities and businesses.
The draw of the
wildlife spectacle alone will bring visitors. With a wider spread of visitors
out with the more traditional tourist periods in July & August. October to
June would likely see the best wildlife events and draw in visitors to see
nesting birds of prey in spring and the arrival and wintering of huge flocks of
wintering waterbirds.
To facilitate visitors,
facilities at key points would provide venues for interpretation of the
wildlife and in many places that interpretation would combine cultural
heritage. The area is well know for its cultural heritage and the combination
of nature and culture provides an attractive tourism offer. The network of
natural and restored wetlands would be linked to each other by walkways and
cycle routes provided along new and existing routes and linked to key hubs at
villages and towns where accommodation, events and other facilities will be
centred. The establishment of “blueways” for kayaking and canoeing into the
heart of some of the wetlands may be developed.
existing peat harvesting infrastructure could provide an opportunity for access development in future? (image copyright Alan Lauder) |
The large scale and
widespread nature of the sites will manage to maintain a quiet, wild feel to an
area which in time may see many tens of thousands of new visitors each year.
All the while ensuring some areas remain visitor free to provide secluded
wilderness areas just for wildlife.
The benefits may go
further than bringing in new visitors and in some cases with the right science behind it some of the wetlands might be well placed to assist with flood storage or simply through slowing
down water run-off to the rivers to delay or reduce flood impacts. The complex
hydrology involved in this will require careful planning but where it is
possible to achieve multiple benefits the wetlands could provide an opportunity
to do so.
More people in the area
will mean existing businesses will benefit but in addition new businesses may
spring up to appeal to those looking for tourist services like guiding, for
wetland management services or for developing the use of wetland products like
reed from harvesting for conservation purposes.
Farming, mentioned
already, may also benefit from direct sales to new visitors and from new
opportunities for diversification.
Local schools and
communities will benefit from the opportunity to use the new wilderness park
areas for environmental education, for developing skills through volunteering
and for promoting health & well-being through more contact with nature and
the outdoors.
The Wetland Wilderness
Park will bring the opportunity for huge wildlife benefits in conjunction with
community benefits and provide a special experience for local people and
visitors alike.
This vision starts the ball rolling on the project to start defining where we would like to get to and to help define the main opportunities and issues with stakeholders and the public. As the project progresses over the next two to three months towards our final proposed framework plan we will adapt, expand and amend our vision in light of stakeholders, partners and the public's views. look out for more posts in the coming weeks...