Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Location and Aims 17 Key Terms : National Park National park authority Land ownership Conservation Planning permission Building controls Example / Case-Study : Lake District National Park, Cumbria, NW England Possible Questions : Why were national parks established? Why are some areas selected for special protection for tourism? Weblinks dex/learning/facts_and_figures. htm one/clips/introducing-britains- green-belts-and-national- parks/7406.html The Aims of National Parks To protect and conserve the natural scenery, wildlife and habitats within the National Park for future generations. To encourage the public to visit and enjoy the leisure opportunities offered by the National Park To help maintain existing communities within the National Park and their economic well-being Some people say it is difficult to meet all these aims without some conflict – by encouraging more visitors this might spoil the natural scenery or cause problems for existing communities. History : Britain’s National Parks were first established in the 1940s – and new ones have been added since then. Location : They are all in areas of spectacular scenery which is protected from development which might spoil it. Most are in upland, hilly regions where the attractions of hills, trees and water combine. Though some like The Broads are low-land waterways. How they Work : the land isn’t owned by the Government – it’s in private hands. But each park has a National Park Planning Board who have extra power to give – or refuse planning permission for new developments in their Park so they can control what is built and make sure it doesn’t spoil the area. They can also make sure new buildings are built out of local stone and painted traditional colours to blend in with the area – powers that don’t exist in areas outside the National Park boundary. Who owns land in National Parks?

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Conflicts of Interest 18 Key Terms : Conflict of Interest Quarrying Example / Case-Study : Lake District National Park, Cumbria, NW England Possible Questions : How can tourism cause problems for some areas? Do tourists always bring benefits to an area? Weblinks onalpark.org.uk/conflictsofland use.pdf BBC video clip on quarrying in a national park: one/clips/yorkshire-dales- quarrying/4813.html Conflicts of Interest develop when the activities of one group of people interfere and spoil the enjoyment of another group of people. They are common in national parks because so many different people want to use them for so many different activities. It is up to the National Park authorities to try to reduce these conflicts of interest. People who pay to shoot grouse and partridge on heather moorlands Walkers and bird-watchers are worried for their safety – or that of the wildlife Causes of the Conflict of Interest Victims of the Conflict of Interest Visitors who focus on certain villages and park their cars on grass verges Local residents who can’t get out of their drives or find car-parks all full Visitors who think they can walk over any field in a National Park with a loose dog Farmers who find their lambs chased & killed by dogs and gates left open for animals to wander onto roads Visitors who light BBQs and drop cigarettes carelessly Forestry workers who have to put out fires in woodland or on heather moorlands Visitors who want to drive power-boats on large lakes Visitors who want to learn to canoe, wind-surf or fish on quiet lakes Quarry owners who want to extend their quarries and expand lorry deliveries Locals and visitors who don’t want any more of the area spoilt with blasting, quarrying & heavy lorries

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Footpath erosion 19 Key Terms : Footpath erosion Grass die-back Soil exposure Heavy rainfall Gulley erosion Example / Case-Study : Catbells Fell, near Keswick, above Derwent Water, Lake District. Possible Questions : How can tourism damage the environment? How can the negative impacts of tourism be reduced? Weblinks BBC video clip of seeding grass by helicopter one/clips/managing-the-impact- of-tourism-in-the-peak-district- national-park/7411.html ath_erosion_factsheet.pdf Footpath erosion is a major environmental conflict of interest in many national parks. On Catbells Fell, near Keswick in the Lake District the hill is within easy reach of the popular tourist town and a fairly easy climb, so gets thousands of feet pounding the surface every summer leading to footpath erosion The die-back of grass exposes the soil to the heavy Lake District rainfall, which erodes the soil into a gulley. Strategies to deal with footpath erosion are: Protect well-used paths with local stone to give a hard surface Spread people out over the area by having alternative paths and zoning cyclists onto harder wearing surfaces Re-seeding the mountain sides with fertiliser & grass seed by helicopter

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Managing Conflicts of Interest 20 Key Terms : Conflict resolution Time-zoning Space-zoning Rationing Honeypot Example / Case-Study : Bowness-on-Windermere, Lake District Possible Questions : Is there anything that can be done about the problems that come with excessive tourist numbers? What is a Honeypot – and does it bring benefits or problems? Weblinks BBC video clip resolving conflicts of interest in the Yorkshire Moors one/clips/yorkshire-dales- conflict-resolution-in-the- farming-community/4815.html Honeypots : A honeypot is a place which attracts a very large number of tourists. It may be due to a Physical feature (such as Flamborough Head) or a Human feature (such as Alton Towers). Attracting large numbers of tourists to a certain feature place can bring lots of benefits (customers for hotels, restaurants and tourist shops) but also lots of issues – such as congestion and prices in shops being raised which local people have to pay. In the Lake District there are many conflicts of interest around Honeypots. In places like Bowness on Windermere they try to concentrate facilities for tourists such as car parks, toilets and street cleaning. In other places the National Park authorities don’t improve areas so that visitors are persuaded to go somewhere else so you don’t get too many people at any one place. This is known as ‘rationing’ and can help disperse visitors.

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Honeypot Bowness-on-Windermere 21 Key Terms : Accessibility Tourist facilities Tourist activities Pedestrianisation Gateway car-parks Example / Case-Study : Bowness-on-Windermere, Lake District Possible Questions : Is there anything that can be done about the problems that come with excessive tourist numbers? How is one honeypot dealing with the issues it faces? Bowness-on-Windermere is a Lake District honeypot on the eastern shore of Lake Windermere because : It is on England's largest lake – Lake Windermere It is the first place visitors come to on a lake as they leave the M6 motorway so is very accessible by car It has all the features visitors expect from a typical Lake District location – lake, hills, trees. There are many facilities in the town for visitors – car parks, toilets, cafes, tourist shops. There are activities visitors can do – go for a walk along the shore, take a rowing boat, go on a lake cruise, explore the islands in the lake. Problems of Bowness being a honeypot Car parks get full quickly – locals find it hard to park Massive Traffic congestion in the narrow main streets of small Lake District towns in summer Car-parks concentrate thousands of visitors into the same starting point for their walks so paths wear Local people feel the town isn’t theirs in summer house prices have gone up with ex-visitors retiring to the town – making houses too expensive for locals Benefits of Bowness being a honeypot Businesses that rely on tourism get much greater income – hotels, cafes, souvenir shops, outdoor clothes shops, cruise boats, rowing boat hire….etc Other parts of the Lake District are quieter as so many visitors just go to Bowness before going home Key tourists attractions have been built in Bowness make more money from visitors – Beatrix Potter World (museum) Plans to Manage Bowness Honeypot A one-way system round the town helps keep traffic moving smoothly Plans to Pedestrianise the centre of Bowness Creating ‘Gateway car-parks’ at the edge of Bowness to capture visitor cars as they arrive Establish ‘year-round’ visitor attractions in Bowness to spread visitors through the year. Weblinks mb/bowness-on- windermere.htm njoy_cumbria/famous_people/b eatrix_potter_attraction.shtml

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Lake Windermere Speed Ban 22 Key Terms : Speed limit Power boats Water-skiing Compromise solution Local businesses Example / Case-Study : Lake Windermere, Lake District Possible Questions : How has a conflict of interest been managed in an area you have studied? To what extent have strategies to manage visitor pressure been successful? Weblinks mar/29/conservationandendangeredspecies.u knews ws/news/s/173/173549_speed_limit_crushes_ windermere_tourism.html s/ Windermere_speed_limit_still_divi des_opinion_five_years_on/ In 2005 a 10 mph speed limit was introduced by the Lake District National Park Authority on Lake Windermere (6 mph close to shore). The effect was to ban speed boats and water-skiing on the lake – Englands largest at 13 miles long. This has been a huge Conflict of Interest which is still causing protest years later. For the Speed BanAgainst the Speed Ban Canoeists, swimmers & wind-surfers who felt in danger from speed boats Wildlife enthusiasts worried by the noise on nesting bird life Residents who were disturbed by the noise Environmentalists worried the lake shore was being eroded from the wake waves Local businesses which hire out rowing boats, canoes & windsurfers Speedboat owners & water skiers who say this is the best and longest lake in England Hotel & guest-house owners who say speedboat owners came to stay for whole weeks Bars & restaurant owners who say they’ve lost high-spending, young wealthy visitors in favour of lower- spending older visitors Local businesses which sold petrol, repaired & serviced speedboats & hired out water-ski equipment Evaluation of the Speed Limit on Lake Windermere There are now more visitors going to Lake Windermere to canoe, windsurf & row than before the ban. There are fewer younger & wealthy visitors now – water-skiers Some people say that those who wanted quiet activities could use the other 14 lakes in the Lake District and leave the largest lake in England for power boats and water-skiing. Others say that Time-Zoning would have been a better compromise as the lake is often less used in the evening. Others say Space-Zoning could have been used – power boats in one half of the lake (or centre), and quiet activities in the other half