1.
Notes from Across the Pond:
Shared approaches to
wilderness science between the US and Europe
Steve Carver
Wildland Research Institute

2.
Outline
• Two continents with a shared history?
• Or two parallel approaches?
• Developments in Europe
• Wilderness and science: complementary
bedfellows
USA Europe

3.
“What avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?” Aldo Leopold (1949)
HC SVNT DRACONES – “Here be Dragons”

4.
TERRA INCOGNITA - “Parts unknown”

5.
A shared history?
• Europe as net exporter of the
wilderness idea
– The Age of Discovery... from Old World
to New “of ungodly places inhabited by
wild animals and wild people”
– Romantic Period... “state of nature and
the sublime”
• North America as net importer
– National Parks
– 1964 Wilderness Act
• Europe today?
– Re-importing the wilderness idea
– Bringing wilderness home!

6.
“The parks are the
Nation's pleasure grounds
and the Nation's restoring
places... The national
parks... are an American
idea; it is one thing we
have that has not been
imported.”
(J. Horace McFarland, president,
American Civic Assn., 1916)
“National parks are the
best idea we ever had.
Absolutely American,
absolutely democratic,
they reflect us at our best
rather than our worst.”
(Wallace Stegner, 1983)

7.
Parallel tracks?
• USA
– Landscape aesthetic...“a
source of inspiration and
recreational activity, having a
spiritual, aesthetic and
intrinsic beauty, whose species
and natural systems had an
inherent value that was not
created by human beings”
• Europe
– Strong scientific approach to
conservation... “less tempered
by the aesthetic, and which
sought the preservation of
unique assemblages of species
rather than necessarily of
landscape values”

8.
Developments in Europe
1. Early history and links with USA
2. Existing environmental legislation
3. Wilderness in Europe
4. Poselství (message) from Prague
5. Definition and guidelines
6. Register and map

9.
Early history
• 1914-2014: 100yrs of the Swiss
National Park
– Undisturbed nature as a long
term, open air laboratory
– Characteristic approach to wild
nature similar to other protected
areas across Europe
– Visited by American botanist
Harvey Hall in 1928
• Carnegie Institution
• need to have "complete
reserves" in the core areas of
NPs and National Forests
• a more scientific approach
should be taken

10.
Existing European legislation
• Bern Convention (1979):
– conservation and protection of wild plant and animal species
and their natural habitats
– increase cooperation and regulate exploitation of species listed
• Habitats and Birds Directives (1992)
– EU mechanism for meeting obligations under Bern Convention
– maintenance of biodiversity
– maintain or restore natural habitats and wild species at a
favourable conservation status (FCS)
• Water Framework Directive (2000)
– framework for protection of inland surface waters, transitional
waters, coastal waters and groundwater
– ensure that all aquatic ecosystems meet 'good status'

11.
Natura 2000
• The centrepiece of EU nature &
biodiversity policy.
– EU wide network of nature
protection areas established under
the Habitats Directive
– Assure long-term survival of
Europe's most valuable and
threatened species and habitats
– Special Areas of Conservation (SAC)
and Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
under the 1979 Birds Directive.
– However… Natura 2000 is not a
system of strict nature reserves
where all human activities are
excluded

12.
(re)Birth of Wilderness in Europe
• February 2009: Members of the
European Parliament backed a report
calling for further protection of
Europe's wilderness (538:19)
• May 2009: EC Presidency Conference
on Wilderness and Large Natural
Habitat Areas (Prague)
– Hosted by Czech Presidency and EC
– Organised by Wild Europe partnership
– 240 invited delegates drafted agreement
on a coordinated strategy to protect and
restore Europe’s wilderness

13.
Poselství (message) from
Prague
“The remaining pristine areas in Europe should be regarded
as a unique asset and benefit from the highest level of
protection. They should not be diminished or degraded.”
Ladislav Miko
Environment Minister in the Czech Republic and former Director of Natural Environment at the European Commission

14.
A strategy
• Agreeing the definition and location of
wild and nearly wild areas;
• Determining the contribution that such
areas can make to halting biodiversity loss
and supporting Natura 2000;
• Recommendations for improved
protection of such areas, within the
existing legal framework;
• Review of opportunities for restoration of
large natural habitat areas;
• Proposals for more effective support for
such restoration;
• Identifying best practice examples for non
intervention and restoration management;
and
• Defining the value of low impact
economic, social and environmental
benefits from wild areas.

15.
European wilderness definition
“A wilderness is an area governed
by natural processes, it is composed
of native habitats and species and it
is large enough for the ecological
functioning of natural processes
and the shaping of natural
structures. It is untouched, and
appears to be primarily affected by
the forces of nature. It is
undeveloped without settlements,
roads or visual disturbance.”
(After Guidelines for the management of wilderness and
wild areas in Natura 2000
07.0307/2010/576314/SER/B3)

16.
European wilderness register

17.
Core zone The core zone measures at least 3,000 hectares, with the objective of at least 10,000 hectares to be
achieved within a stated timescale; there can be two or more cores in the area (adding up to a surface of
at least 3,000 ha), if linked and with a plan for full amalgamation;
Undeveloped No habitation, no permanent settlements
No infrastructure No roads or a plan for removal of existing infrastructure; except traditional gathering sites required by
indigenous people to practice their traditional reindeer herding; in Finland wilderness legislation already
exists to permit certain activities, and these cannot thus be legally excluded.
No motorised access Only free to public access on foot; no wheels or motorised access for recreational use; only access is
allowed in cases of emergency for safety reasons or for law enforcement (ranger service)
No habitat management No interference that affect natural habitats and processes.
Wildfire control Only if needed for e.g. public safety.
No wildlife management None, except by exceptional agreements under existing wilderness legislation in Nordic countries, so long
as there is no significant impact on biodiversity. No re-stocking except for restoration purposes.
No grazing by domestic stock None, except in exceptional circumstances for indigenous people (only in Nordic countries; traditional
reindeer herding).
No extraction of natural
resources
None including collecting of berries, nuts, mushrooms, wood, fish etc.; except by special agreements for
indigenous people in Nordic countries; in any case there should be no significant impact on biodiversity.
Tourism and recreation Activities allowed if not requiring built infrastructure. Tourism activities permitted under strict ‘leave no
trace’ rules. There should be no ecological impact.
Measurable criteria used for qualifying protected
areas as ‘wilderness’

18.
Wilderness and science:
the view from Europe
• Spatial
– EU/EEA Wilderness Register
• Traditional knowledge
– Research into “integrative”
approaches
– TK, TEK, TPK, etc.
• Climate change
– Barometers of climate change
– Natural labs
– Increased resilience to change

19.
Rewilding
• Opportunities and vision
– Abandoned farm land in
marginal areas
– Replace domestic grazing with
wild grazers
– Role and challenges of large
predators?
– Connectivity issues?
– Future directions...
• Wilder or safari park Europe?
• Back to food production?
• Return to wilderness?

20.
European Wilderness Society
• Pan-European, wilderness and
environmental advocacy organisation
– Mission is to identify, designate, manage and
promote European wilderness
– Target of 5% wilderness
– Network of wilderness areas across Europe
• Common standards
• Wilderness Standard Quality and Audit System
• Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum membership
– PEGNet
http://www.wilderness-society.org

21.
Conclusions
• Import-export
– USA as net importer of wilderness
– (Re)exporting the idea across the globe
– Europe as (original) exporter, now reimporting
• Science is key to understanding
• GEOGRAPHY... The spatial key
– Spatial (WQI and connectivity)
– Social (well-being, recreation and TK)
– Physical (Climate change, habitats and species)

22.
“Science provides knowledge upon which to make
informed decisions about the protection and
management of wilderness... wilderness provides
opportunities for scientific understanding that is
not often available in other, less well protected
areas. Thus, science is important to wilderness and
wilderness is important to science.”
David Parsons (2000, 34)