ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS - INCREMENTALISM OR REFORM

This paper examines the origins of Environinentally Sensitive Areas in the U.K. and the political context of their formulation and implementation. A detailed case study of the designation of the Somerset Levels ESA is provided. Conflict between farmers and conservationists erupted in the Levels in the aftennath of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act. The paper shows how the uneasy truce, which emerged with the progress of management agreements under the 1981 Act, developed into an enthusiasm among farmers for conservation notifications when the ESA policy was introduced in 1986-1987. Farmers came to see some of the financial benefits of compensatory environmental policies especially in the context of declining levels of agricultural support. Political harmony on the Levels is threatened, however, by renewed concern over environmental changes caused by a general lowering of the water levels in recent years. The problem of water levels is, in part, a consequence of the activities of the Internal Drainage Boards, whose independence and, in some cases, undemocratic character remains a serious problem for environmental management on the Levels. Whilst there are many positive features about the ESA policy, in contrast to some aspects of the 1981 legislation, the paper emphasises the need for still greater co-ordination and consistency of policy. © 1990.