Environmental Problems There is a wide array of environmental problems associated with tourism in the Lake District. Aside from common problems with litter, there exists footpath erosion, lakeside erosion and air pollution. The increased number of cars damages the air from car exhausts and also from people parking on grass verges, damaging the ground parked upon.

Environmental Problems Footpath erosion occurs because of the sheer number of people using popular routes. According to the Park Authority, four million people walk an average of 6km each year. The pressure of peoples feet damages plants and soil, making soil erosion possible.

Environmental Problems These issues are worst in honey pot or popular areas, which also suffer from the stress of overcrowding, parking problems and second homes.

Solutions for Environmental Problems Show visitors how they can be responsible tourists with events, leaflets, information centres, guided walks and events, signs and websites. Encourage visitors to leave their cars behind and use greener travel, like bikes, buses, boats and trains. Support outdoor activities that don’t damage the countryside and harm wildlife.

Solutions for Environmental Problems Encourage visitors to buy local products and food. Run green business schemes to encourage businesses to recycle, reduce energy, conserve water and be sustainable. Ask local communities for their views and ideas by setting up forums, groups and consultations. Reduce erosion caused by visitors by creating and repairing footpaths.

Solutions for Environmental Problems Use planning policies to control the spread of buildings in built-up areas development. Encourage green energy-efficient buildings with planning policies and grant funds. Encourage small-scale renewable energy schemes like woodchip boilers and solar panels, with planning policies and grant funding.

Lake District Limitations of an area

About The Location The Lake District covers 2292 square kilometres and 885 square miles. It has a total of 14 lakes Its also very mountainous, including 6 very large ones with the highest peak at 3210 Feet.

Weather Temperatures are cool in summer due to the altitude ( every 1000 metre increase in altitude, temps decrease by 6 degrees) The Lake District is on the West coast, in Winter, temps are mild due to the warming effects of the North Atlantic Drift.

Weather Rainfall is high throughout the year, due to the mountains forcing the air up, causing more rainfall as well as being located next to the coast. Increased cloud cover occurs due to the mountains, this then reduces the amount of sunshine hours.

The Soil Soils are very thin and highly acidic. Due to this they can only support limited vegetation. Due to the high amounts of rainfall, leaching occurs, taking out the nutrients from the soil.

The Soil Due to the soils state, crops could not be grown here. Forestry is the main form of industry. Around 11% of the National Park is made up of forestry. This is because the trees can cope with poor soils and can survive as they can sook up the nutrients again which were lost from leeching.

Farming Sheep farming is the main type of farming in the Lake District due to it being such a steep location. Cattle could not get up and down the steep slopes and could not cope with the altitude up on the mountains.

Farming Machinery could also not get up the steep slopes to attend the soils, meaning that the only suitable solution is sheep farming. “Herdwick sheep” are the most common type of sheep to be found in the Lake District.

Farming Dairy and arable farming is found on the valley floor and fringes of the park. Soil is thicker here and of better quality to support the cattle. However, the soil becomes waterlogged here which means crops are losed or cant be grown. Due to the poorer quality of land, farmers need to farm a larger area to make it viable or diversify their activities to bring in additional income.

Loss Of Young Expertise Due to low price salaries and expensive housing, the Lake District is not appealing to young people. The young brought up here are moving away and the young from other areas do not want to move here. This means that the Lake District is loosing the young generation, which are vital to carry out the Work.

Unable to modernise Modern communication like speedy internet connections, cannot occur. The Lake District cannot get broadband as no access can be gained anywhere within the mountainous area. This means that the young could not even work at home and communicate work to the office or attend video confrensing as they get no access.

Disasters On 19 th November 2009, flooding occurred the area mm fell within 24 hours. 6 bridges collapsed and the other 1800 had to be checked before they could be used again homes and businesses were completely demolished. Due to this natural disaster, tourism dropped as the place so was so badly damaged. Local businesses went into financial difficulties and others had to rebuild their business from scratch.

What Caused The Disaster The severe flooding occurred due to an Atlantic weather front becoming almost stationary over Northern Ireland, Cumbria and South West Scotland. The rain was intensified by the effect of the mountains forcing the air up.

Atlantic Effects All year round, there is high amounts of rainfall due to prevailing westerly winds across the Atlantic, pitching up huge amounts of moisture. As the air hits the Lake District hills, it is forced up to rise where it cools and the moisture condenses to form rain.

Honey Pot Sites And related conflicts

Honey Pot Sites Honey pot sites are particularly popular visitor attractions which bring tourists to the area in large numbers. They are frequently used by cities or countries to manage their tourism industry. The use of honey pot sites can protect fragile land from major cities while satisfying tourists.

One example of this is the construction of local parks to prevent tourists from damaging more valuable ecosystems further from their main destination. Honey pots have added benefit of concentrating a large number of income-generating visitors in one place, thus developing that area, and in turn making the area more appealing to tourists.

However, honey pot sites can also bring about consequences such as overcrowding, litter, crime and strain on facilities and transport networks.

Bowness-on-Windermere The main honey pot site in the Lake District is Bowness-on-Windermere, there are many conflicts caused by tourism in this area: The town can become congested with cars and tourists, causing pollution and conflict with local people. Walkers can cause conflict with local farmers by dropping litter and leaving gates open.

Conflicts (continued) Tourists can buy second homes in this area which can push property prices up to the point where locals cannot afford them. If pathways are frequently used by the many tourists in these areas they can be damaged. Large numbers of visitors create air, noise, litter and water pollution. Farmland is used to build tourist facilities e.g. campsites

Conflicts (continued) Conflicts between different recreational activities e.g. motorbikes and cyclists on minor roads. Also, conflicts caused by jet skis and sailing on lochs