Features and Evaluation

Nature conservation features can be a habitat, a community or a population. Other features of interest can include geological, geomorphological, archaeological and historical features. For most sites, the presence of conservation features will have been the basis of site acquisition, selection or designation. Feature assessment or evaluation is simply the means of identifying, or confirming, which of the features should become the focus for the remainder of the planning process. There are two different approaches to identifying or selecting the important features on a site. The traditional approach was to use the Nature Conservation Review criteria for identifying important features (Ratcliffe 1977). This chapter recommends an alternative: selection based on the use of the previously recognised status (local, national and international) of a feature. In some ways, this may be regarded as a consensus approach because it takes account of as wide a range of opinion as possible. In an ideal world, where resources are plentiful, all the features would be given some attention in the plan. Unfortunately, in reality, there are rarely sufficient resources even to manage the most important features. Consequently, the planner may have to be selective and, for example, in an extreme case, restrict management to features of national and international status. There will always be a need to draw a line somewhere.

Sometimes, there are conflicts between features. These can often be resolved by understanding the relationship between the different site features. These conflicts are fortunately rare and can usually be accommodated in the planning process. In most cases, one feature will be regarded as more important than another.

Nature conservation management can be about creating opportunities for wildlife on seriously damaged or degraded areas, where little of the original flora or fauna has survived. The type of vegetation (plant communities) that can occupy and thrive in an area will be dictated, initially, by a range of natural factors. Once we understand the outcomes that nature, with and without human influence, will allow on a site, we need to decide what we want. There are no rules that can be applied here: within the realm of possibilities the choice is dictated mainly by human preference.

Keywords cultural values, evaluation, features, habitats, intrinsic appeal, landscape, Red Data Books, species, NCR criteria