RELU report: Landmarks for Policy

This RELU report is based on the collective findings of the various projects it has funded since 2003, most of which relate in some way to or raise questions about land and how we do and might use it in the future. It also draws upon the discussions arising from a 2009 conference that RELU held on 'The Future of Rural Land Use'.

Key themes are:

• What do we need from our land? Following World War 2 and 'Dig for Victory' the UK made great strides in increasing production. But the 1970s and 80s brought surpluses and 'food mountains'. Now we need to harvest increasingly diverse benefits from our land: food, clean water supplies, timber, biofuels, wildlife, flood management, carbon storage, leisure activities and more houses and infrastructure for a growing population. Demands shift and grow in an uncertain economic and meteorological climate. Technological advances continue but public acceptance often lags behind, as in the development of genetically modified crops, resulting in controversies that may be difficult to resolve.
• Who decides? We should have a say in land management. Apart from a small number of institutions and large property owners, most of the land in the UK is in the hands of small and medium-sized commercial businesses.
• What needs to change? To move to a more integrated ecosystem approach, it will be necessary to take the long view while maintaining flexibility to deal with short term, unexpected changes.
• Can models and indicators help? Increasingly sophisticated techniques are being developed by Relu projects to model interactions between land use, land managers, stakeholders, the economy and the environment. This kind of modelling can usefully inform policy, particularly where it is grounded in local experience, but it is important to recognise that modelling is more about understanding uncertainty than delivering definitive answers. It does, however, help to illuminate the trade-offs to be made between different ecosystem services.
• What stands in our way? Securing integrated land management based on an ecosystem services approach will require significant change in policies and processes.