George Monbiot: Parklife
Our national parks are ecological deserts, run for the benefit of a tiny minority. It’s time we reclaimed them.
"Visit any national park in Britain and ask yourself what you are seeing. Is it the “wild”, “unspoilt” landscape the brochures and display boards promised? Or is it eerily bereft of wildlife and rich ecosystems? Is it managed in the interests of the nation, or for a tiny, privileged minority? I suspect that if we saw such places called national parks in another country, we would recognise them for what they are: a complete farce.
One of the reasons for this dire state is burning. Much of the land in our national parks is systematically burnt, with the blessing of the agencies supposed to protect them. This vandalism is sometimes justified as a “conservation tool”, but it bears as much relationship to the conservation of wildlife as burning libraries bears to the conservation of books. So weird has our engagement with nature in this country become that we can no longer tell the difference between protection and destruction.
The burning is accompanied by the mass killing of birds of prey, weasels, stoats, foxes, badgers, pine martens, domestic cats and other predators. The continued disappearance of hen harriers, golden eagles, peregrine falcons and other raptors when they cross grouse moors is no mystery. A study on Langholm Moor in Scotland discovered that when the persecution of birds of prey ceases, grouse numbers drop below the point at which driven shooting is economically viable. (Driven grouse shooting involves clients waiting in shelters, called butts, while lines of workers chase the birds over their heads). Though it is illegal to trap, shoot and poison birds of prey in this country, the economic model depends on these practices."