The case for a Wilderness DirectiveLouise Waddell- LLBSimon Boyle, Solicitor

What is wilderness?

•WILD Foundation•The most intact, undisturbed wild areas

left on our planet•Area is wild if biologically intact and

legally protected•WILD is international organisation, based

in Boulder, Colorado, dedicated to wilderness protection around the world

What is wilderness?

•United States Wilderness Act 1964•A wilderness, in contrast with those areas

where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammelled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

How much wilderness is there left?•International Union for Conservation of

Nature (IUCN) 2003 report•Found that only 10.9% of the world's land

mass is currently a Category 1- i.e. nature reserve or protected wilderness

•The wildest regions of the world include Antarctica, the tundra, the taiga, the Amazonian rain forest, the Tibetan Plateau, the Australian Outback and deserts such as the Sahara, and the Gobi.

How much wilderness is there left?•Wilderness Foundation UK•Europe’s land mass, less than 1% features

wilderness- predominantly in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ukraine and Western Russia.

•Europe’s last remaining primeval forest, Bialowieza in Poland (was Royal hunting reserve)

Bialowieza Forest

Knoydart

European Protection

•Habitats Directive•Birds Directive•Natura 2000 Designated Sites•Water Framework Directive•These all critical but no Directive on

Wilderness for its own right

EU Development

•European Parliament Resolution, Wilderness in Europe, 3, Feb 2009

•‘Restoration of Europe’s last wilderness areas are vital to halting the loss of biodiversity’

• ‘Calls on the commission to develop an EU Wilderness strategy’

• ‘Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop wilderness areas’

EU Development

•May 2009 meeting in Prague • ‘Message from Prague’ Supported

European Parliament •Should identify and promote opportunities

within the 2012 review of Common Agricultural Policy

•Supported by European Centre for Nature Conservation

UK legislation

•National Parks – 15 in Britain▫Environment Act 1995▫National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000▫Aim to conserve and enhance the land, and

promote sustainable development of the land

•Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004▫Imposes duty to protect biodiversity and

protect natural heritage.▫Strengthens protection of SSSI’s

US Legislation

•Wilderness Act 1964•Covers 106 million acres (429,000 km²)•Once a wilderness area has been added to

the System, its protection and boundary can only be altered by another act of Congress.

US Legislation•Omnibus Land Management Act 2009•Signed by President Obama in March 2009•Protects further 2 million acres of wilderness• ‘a major victory for environmentalists,

nature lovers and future generations. Millions of acres will be preserved as a legacy for future generations’

Conclusion• Some countries, such as USA recognise

wilderness and provide high level of legal protection

• Europe currently does not- however an important start has been made

• The loss of biodiversity is probably the most serious threat facing this planet and every species

• The creation of legally protected Wilderness areas in EU is a vital step forward