Whole Landscape Research in the River Glaven Catchment

Project Summary

Adrian Southern

March 20 2006

Aims of the research project

In brief my aim between now and 2007 is to assess the benefits, limitations and implications of implementing a whole-landscape approach to countryside management in England using the Glaven River catchment as a case study. The whole-landscape approach can be described as a process of integrated planning across property boundaries that optimizes the amount, location, configuration and management of habitats and other landscape elements, to deliver environmental, economic and social benefits.

This research needs to integrate the social, economic and environmental factors that are important in the Glaven catchment into a collective whole, and then derive management options for the entire catchment which will then be presented as text, maps, and other visualizations to farmers, agency staff and other interested people in the Glaven catchment for comment.

The project will be carried out in four phases:

1. Interviews with farmers, agency staff, non-governmental bodies and other interested people (Jan 2006 – March 2006).

2. Whole Landscape modelling (April 2006 – Oct 2006).

3. Present whole landscape management options derived from the modelling and interviews to people in the Glaven catchment (Nov 2006 to Feb 2007).

4. Write PhD thesis, reports and research papers (Feb 2007 to Oct 2007).

Throughout I aim to make this a study of the practical implementation of agricultural and environmental policy and hope the outputs of this research will be useful to those living and working in the Glaven catchment, and the wider English countryside.