Taiwan accuses Chinese fishermen of wrecking coral reefs

AFP 27 Jul 08;

TUNGSHA, Taiwan (AFP) — Chinese fishermen have been accused of poaching in Taiwan's first marine national park where authorities here say their destructive methods are endangering the area's ecology.

The scourge of boats scouring the seabed for food destined for Hong Kong restaurants is combining with global warming as a major cause of coral reef bleaching, they say.

"Chinese fishing boats have been posing the gravest threat to the fragile ecological system here," Shaw I-pung of the Marine National Park headquarters said, speaking of the tiny coral atoll called Tungshan Island.

"They have been using illegal methods like poisons, dynamite and electricity to exploit marine resources in the region," he added.

Tungsha Islands, comprising Tungsha Island and two coral reefs which are submerged at high tides, straddles a strategically important sea route at the north of the South China Sea linking the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The island is a coral atoll with a land area of 2.4 square km. It measures 0.9 km from east to west, and 2.7 km from north to south.

Shaw said the unquenched appetite for Hong Kong's famed Cantonese sea food is to blame for the menace.

"Most of the marine catches here, like fishes and lobsters, were quickly sent to Hong Kong, which touts itself as the world's biggest living fish market," he said.

Chinese fishermen, plus some Vietnamese, use cyanide to stun fish and catch them live for higher commercial prices, he said.

"Cabrilla can be sold for 30 US dollars per kilo in Hong Kong and some other fish even sell for up to 100 US dollars per kilo," Shaw said.

Tungsha is 167 miles (267 km) away from Hong Kong and 236 miles from Taiwan's southern Kaohsiung city.

"Smaller fish and corals were destroyed by the poisons, largely cyanide which is easily available in China," Shaw said.

However, "the destructive way of fishing has been endangering the coral reefs near Tungsha," which Shaw described as an "ocean rain forest" and a biodiversity hot spot.

Academics found there are 264 species of corals, 556 species of fish and 140 species of birds -- many of them migratory birds -- in that area.

Taiwanese coastguards say they have stopped 3,820 ships invading the prohibited Tungsha waters since they were deployed in 2000.

Taiwan withdrew marines from Tungsha in 2000 in what the then government said was a move to help alleviate tensions in the South China Sea.

China does not specifically claim over Tungsha as Beijing already regards Taiwan as part of its territory.

Currently around 200 coastguards are stationed on Tungsha and armed with a fleet of six patrol boats -- three 10-tonne vessels and three other eight-tone boats. There are no civilian inhabitants.

But the fleet is apparently not strong enough to serve as a "deterrent" to the Chinese and Vietnamese invaders.

"They often come back after we leave," a coastguard officer said on condition of anonymity.

Taiwan's government is building the first permanent piere on the island to house the three incoming 20-tonne boats.

"Bigger ships would help us battling invaders as they increase our crusing capability," said Liu Kuo-lieh, the Tungsha coastguard commander.

As part of its ocean conservation efforts, Taiwanese government inaugurated the Tungsha Marine National Park in January 2007 with its work centred on the monitoring and conservation of the local ecology.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 27 Jul 08

Another first record for Cyrene?
a fascinating cowrie on the wildfilms blog

Blowing brown sea cucumber
and other stuff on a video clip on the sgbeachbum blog

Plain-pouched Hornbill: Migration or flocking?
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Read more!

Handicapped, but we can dive

Handicapped Scuba Association
Tay Shi'an, The New Paper 27 Jul 08;

ON land, she's unsteady on her feet because of a spinal injury she suffered nine years ago.

But in water, Madam Colleen Low, 42, a certified master scuba diver, is a picture of confidence.

She is one of just a few certified disabled divers in Singapore.

Earlier this month, The New Paper on Sunday featured a group of four Singaporeans with different disabilities who are learning to dive, for charity.

Checks with international bodies for disabled divers showed that fewer than 10 Singaporeans got certified with them in the last 15 years.

For Madam Low, a retail operations executive, it was a matter of jumping back into the water.

She was already an experienced diver when she fell on a boat in 1999 and suffered a spinal injury.

She was hospitalised for two months, and spent a year on crutches.

Now, after years of physiotherapy, she can walk, with the help of her husband and friends, or by leaning against walls for support.

SECOND CHANCE

In 2001, her dive instructor, Mr Eugene Sim from Dive Atlantis, told her he had just completed a course on teaching diving to the disabled, and asked if she wanted to give it a try.

Said Madam Low: 'He showed me all the videos, and I was amazed. It never came to mind that the handicapped can still dive.

'People asked me why I wasn't scared to go back. But it's one of my hobbies.'

She went through pool and open water sessions to learn new dive methods to overcome her disability.

She admitted there were moments she felt disheartened, like when she faced currents and did not have the strength to swim against them like she did before.

She was also embarrassed at first over the help she needed, like having to be carried from the boat to the jetty.

She said: 'People like us, we have a phobia that people are watching us, because the way we walk is different. When we sit down, we never want to get up.

'But I didn't want to give up.'

So she persevered - and got her handicapped dive certificate the same year.

Since then, Madam Low has done more than 80 dives, in places like Manado in Indonesia, and Tioman and Pulau Aur in Malaysia, usually with her instructor and the same group of friends.

She said: 'When I dive, I feel proud. Because people see I'm handicapped but I can dive.'

Another such diver is Mr Tam Ah Hock, 40, former president of the Handicaps Welfare Association.

He was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder in which bones break easily, and is wheelchair-bound.

But despite the condition, and being just 1m tall, Mr Tam learnt diving 12 years ago, thanks to then-polytechnic student Michael Cheng, who taught diving to the disabled as part of his National Youth Achievement Awards activities.

Mr Tam, an operations support executive, said: 'On land, I feel very disabled. My movements are limited. Once in the water, I'm just like any other person, free to move everywhere.

'I can see the fishes, the underwater scene, it's a totally different environment.'

But after receiving his certification, Mr Tam decided to stop diving.

He had sinus problems which gave him nosebleeds because of the pressure underwater.

SPREADING THE WORD

Both Madam Low and Mr Tam said they would like more disabled Singaporeans to know the opportunities open to them, that it's possible for them to learn diving.

Said Mr Tam: 'In life, it's always good to try some adventure, whether you are disabled or not.'

Madam Low's instructor, Mr Sim, 40, has trained two other disabled divers, in Malaysia.

His company, Dive Atlantis, charges $680 for a disabled diver course - the same as its open water course for regular divers, though the former requires more instructors.

'I don't think disabled diving is well-known in Singapore,' he said.

'If the disabled can enjoy one more sport, it's more meaningful to them.

'Those like Colleen can continue their lifestyle and it helps them go back to a normal life.'

Diving for the disabled

Handicapped Scuba Association

www.hsascuba.com

The US-based organisation said only one instructor and five disabled divers from Singapore have gone through its programmes. This was in 1996 and 1997.

One of the five divers is Mr Tam Ah Hock, 40, former president of the Handicaps Welfare Association.

International Association for HandicappedDivers

www.iahd.org

The Netherlands-based organisation said six Singapore instructors have been trained by it so far. Four of them are under the same local dive operator, Dive Atlantis.

Madam Colleen Low, 42, is the only disabled diver from Singapore who has been certified with it, although others have been given introductory sessions.

CHARITY

The four disabled Singaporeans learning to dive for charity will be heading to Pulau Tioman from 22 to 24 Aug for their first open water dives.

When they complete these successfully, the four - one deaf, one partially blind, one wheelchair-bound, and one special needs student - can become certified divers.

All four are participating in A Nation In Concert, a charity performance of a marine-themed musical in October, to raise funds for various welfare organisations.

Want to witness them get certified?

Ocean Ambassador Dive Center, which is partially sponsoring the course, will be holding an Open Water Advanced Dive course and leisure dives for certified divers on the same trip.

Net proceeds from these will be donated to the concert.

Those interested can call Ocean Ambassador's Eugene Yeo at 91887230.

Read more!

Large animal trap discovered on mainland Singapore

Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 26 Jul 08;

SINGAPORE : While Singapore is increasingly urbanised, some areas are still being used by poachers to set traps for wild animals.

A volunteer from a non-profit nature organisation recently discovered a trap on mainland Singapore.

The large wild animal trap is able to hold between six and eight wild boars.

The trap was not found on Pulau Ubin - where five illegal animal traps were discovered last year - but on mainland Singapore, in the Lim Chu Kang area.

Ben Lee, a volunteer with Nature Trekker - a non-profit organisation - was surprised to find the trap on the evening of July 24.

He also saw three men loitering in the area with a pickup truck. He believed the truck could be used to carry trapped animals out of the heavily forested area.

Mr Lee said, "They are not really professional. They are trapping it for many purposes - maybe for personal consumption, for food..." He added that wild boar meat could fetch up to S$12 per kilogramme.

In February this year, a man was fined S$50 for setting up an illegal net in the Choa Chu Kang area.

Under the Wild Animals and Birds Act, anyone found guilty of killing, taking or keeping unlicensed wild animals or birds can be fined up to S$1,000. - CNA/ms

Read more!

Recycling Queen

From collecting cans to creating 'green' eyewear, she does her part to save the world
Nur Dianah Suhaimi, Straits Times 26 Jul 08;

Her passion for recycling earned Dr Lee Hui Mien the nicknames 'Recycling Queen' and 'Rubbish Girl'.

But the 28-year-old research engineer at A*Star's Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) is no common tree-hugger.

This year, she created the world's first spectacle frame made almost entirely from recycled materials.

The frame, which looks like any other on the market, is made from recycled industrial waste like plastic and steel.The only parts of the frame that are not recycled are the two small silicon pads which rest on the wearer's nose. They are impossible to recycle.

The recycled spectacle frame made its debut in Milan last May at several optical fashion shows and proved to be an instant hit among the Europeans.

Said Mr Yang Wah Kiang, managing director of Nanyang Optical, the eyewear company which commissioned the project: 'There was overwhelming response. Major eyewear distributors from France, Germany and Italy have already placed their orders.'

The eco-friendly spectacles have also caught the attention of eyewear distributors in the United States, Korea and Taiwan and will be sold in these places soon.

In Singapore, they are already for sale at Nanyang Optical stores, priced from $200.

When Nanyang Optical first approached SIMTech with the idea of creating recycled spectacle frames, Dr Lee was the natural choice to head the project.

Not only was she well-known in the office for her environmentally friendly ways, she was also the only scientist at SIMTech who is well-versed in life cycle engineering.

In life cycle engineering, products manufactured are assessed according to their technical, economical and environmental impact.

Still a PhD student at the time, the project was Dr Lee's first big break. In the beginning, however, success seemed like a distant dream.

First, sourcing for suitable recycled materials was difficult as there were few local recycling centres to shop from.

Once the materials were found, converting them into flawless spectacle frames proved to be another problem.

For Dr Lee, there was the additional pressure to make the recycled spectacles as perfect as possible because 'people always think recycled products are one grade lower'.

One and a half years later, the recycled spectacles were ready. More importantly, they were perfect.

In fact, the spectacles turned out so well that her boss, Dr Song Bin, who is also the head of SIMTech's life cycle engineering programme, was surprised.

'It was not an easy project and it involved working with researchers from many different departments. But Hui Mien did very well,' he said.

Dr Lee, however, refused to take all the credit for her achievement, saying: 'I was fortunate to have a very good team working with me.'

Her humility can be traced back to her humble beginnings.

The middle of three children, she has lived all her 28 years in her family's three-room flat in Bedok. She is still single.

Her father is a retired sub-contractor while her mother works as a customer relations officer at Singapore Pools.

She studied in Bedok South Secondary, a stone's throw away from home. It was there that she stumbled upon her first love - recycling.

'I did simple things like picking up litter around school and collecting old newspapers and clothes in the neighbourhood,' she recalled.

She went on to Serangoon Junior College where she was one of the top students for the A levels.

Her excellent results won her a scholarship from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). She chose to study electrical and electronic engineering because 'the degree was practical and the results tangible'.

In NTU, her passion for recycling deepened when she joined Earthlink, the university's environmental awareness society. She took part in recycling competitions and went on an environmental study trip to Germany.

Upon graduation in 2003, she was offered the inaugural A*Star Graduate Scholarship.

It was there that she saw the opportunity to combine her engineering training with her long-time passion for saving the environment.

She completed her doctorate in philosophy in electrical and electronic engineering at NTU earlier this month and is now waiting for her conferment letter.

'It will be my parents' fifth time attending a convocation ceremony in NTU. They must be tired of it,' she joked.

The Lee siblings are all NTU graduates. Dr Lee's elder sister, 31, a manager at the Singapore Management University, did both her bachelor's and master's degrees in NTU.

Her younger brother, 24, just graduated with an accountancy degree from NTU and now works as an auditor in a top accounting firm.

Interestingly, the siblings' secret to success did not involve a single tuition class.

Said Dr Lee: 'My parents are not highly-educated nor well-to-do, but they are very supportive of our studies. Their rules for us were simple: Don't go out too late at night and never skip school.'

At home, Dr Lee is the family's self-appointed environmental officer. She has boxes for different types of rubbish - paper, cans, plastics and glass.

'Sometimes, I scold my family members for throwing bottles and cans into the dustbin or for wasting electricity,' she said.

She is not much different at work, said her colleagues.

After office meetings, she would stay behind to collect mineral water bottles that others had chucked into the bin.

She sets up 'recycling corners' wherever she goes, be it the laboratory or her office.

Said her colleague, Miss Anne Ho, 29, a research officer: 'Hui Mien even takes recycling bags for the rest of us when we go shopping together. She does not allow us to take plastic bags.'

'Her mantra is: 'Think before you throw',' added Miss Ho with a laugh.

However, it was not until recently that people have become more accepting of Dr Lee's 'green' ways.

'When I first started recycling many years ago, people laughed at me and said things like: 'Are you serious? Why bother?' I remember how people turned the recycling bins in NTU into rubbish bins,' she said.

But things are different now. After office meetings, colleagues will automatically pass her their mineral water bottles to recycle. When printing documents at the office, they try to print on both sides of the paper. They even feel guilty about using plastic bags when out shopping.

While happy with others' heightened awareness for the environment, Dr Lee believes more can be done. People in Germany and Switzerland drive all the way to recycling centres and pay for their trash to be recycled, she said, adding that Singapore has a long way to go.

Now that her PhD is done and the big project over, she hopes to make Europe her next destination. Not for a holiday, but a post-doctoral attachment.

'They are more advanced in life cycle engineering. I'd like to spend some time there in maybe one to two years' time,' she said.

Meanwhile, she already has a mini environmental project lined up: to set up a recycling project at SIMTech.

'We need to consume within our means so that there will be enough for the next generation,' she said.

After inventing recycled spectacles, this next task should be within easy sight.

Read more!

CNG car drivers run out of patience

There are 1,600 CNG vehicles but only two all-access CNG stations - and queues are long
Alvin Lim, Straits Times 27 Jul 08;

Queues in Singapore usually mean what's at the end of the line is worth waiting for.

But don't tell that to the occupants in the long lines of vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG), waiting at the only two fuelling stations.

Their long-suffering gripes: long queues, too few stations too far away, 10 minutes to fill up, up to a two-minute wait between cars, shut down of pumps during thunderstorms, and now, rising CNG prices.

The numbers, and the daily bottlenecks, tell their story.

There are now nearly 1,600 CNG-capable vehicles, up from about 550 in January.

They are served by only two CNG stations: one in the west, in Jalan Buroh, and one in the north, in Mandai.

A third fuelling station, run by SembCorp Gas on Jurong lsland, is not open to drivers who have no access there.

All in, the two available stations have just 10 pumps.

The Mandai station, managed by Smart Energy, has eight; the Jalan Buroh station, run by SPC, has two pumps operated by SembCorp Gas.

In contrast, Singapore's 531,590 petrol-driven cars can fill up within minutes at the 200 or so petrol stations islandwide, usually without any hassle.

For owners of CNG-driven vehicles, peak periods can mean an hour's wait.

It takes at least 10 minutes to fill a CNG tank with a typical capacity of 66 litres.

Then, there is a 'cool-down period' of one to two minutes before the next car can fill up - to 'drive up the pump pressure' first, a pump operator at Mandai said.

Motorist Prabhu Vivekananda, 38, a quality assurance manager, said: 'Sometimes a pump breaks down and it worsens the queues.'

Mr Yazid Yusof, 22, a driver for a parallel car importer, who takes up to eight cars daily to the Jalan Buroh station, said his wait could be as long as an hour each time.

The situation worsens in Jalan Buroh during thunderstorms as the pumps are shut down for safety reasons.

Another motorist, who wanted to be known only as Mr Chang, said he has 'no choice but to wait for the rain to stop'.

'It's not that bad because I live not too far away, in Bukit Panjang. Just imagine how it will be for a car owner who lives in Pasir Ris, in the east.'

He intends to give up his CNG-driven vehicle.

'My car is only two months old, but I'll sell it by the year's end. CNG is not for me,' he said.

Other than the desire to 'go green', many owners had taken to CNG cars because of the relatively cheaper fuel.

But CNG prices have been rising, from $1.28 per kg in May to $1.59 early this month to the current price of $1.73 per kg.

Taxi drivers, who cover long distances, say they have been badly hit.

Cabby Lim Teong Beng, 37, said he has driven his new CNG taxi for only two weeks, but now wants to go back to a diesel one.

He said he used to make at least $100 when he drove a diesel taxi but is now earning barely $60 even after driving for 18 hours a day, two hours longer than usual.

Like most CNG-capable cars here, his taxi - a Hyundai Azera CNG - is 'bi-fuel', which means it can run on petrol as well.

His taxi's 3.3-litre V6 engine does only 160km on a full tank of CNG. 'I have to rush back to Mandai the moment I run low on CNG. I cannot afford to switch back to petrol. It defeats the purpose of using CNG in the first place,' he said.

Fellow cabby Kamarudin Mizah, 52, said many of his colleagues had given up driving CNG taxis because of the high operating costs and the inconvenience of having to pump at only two locations.

One solution is to increase the fuelling facilities.

SembCorp Gas may expand its CNG operations here under the brand Gplus. A spokesman said that it is exploring this, 'subject to the necessary approvals'.

Smart Energy, meanwhile, won a 5,500 sq m plot of land in Serangoon North on Thursday and will start building a station there, general manager William Chua told The Sunday Times.

He added that Smart will expand the number of pumps in Mandai from eight to 16. This will double its capacity to 200 cars per hour.

But a spot of bad news is ahead. The Jurong Island and Jalan Buroh CNG stations will close for maintenance for two days from tomorrow, leaving Mandai the sole CNG station open during that period.

Meanwhile, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has responded to recent concerns that the special tax exemption which CNG cars now enjoy may be removed.

This special tax is to recover fuel duty imposed on petrol. Duty is not charged on CNG at the fuelling station.

In the case of CNG bi-fuel cars, an LTA spokesman said: 'The exemption is up till Dec 31 next year and a review will be conducted in due course...The Government has also not ruled out the extension of special tax exemption for such cars.'

Read more!

Mexico finds dozens of dead sea turtles

Associated Press 26 Jul 08;

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) -- Environmental officials in Mexico say dozens of dead sea turtles apparently killed in fishing nets have washed up on beaches in recent days.

Authorities say 59 Olive Ridley turtles have been found on beaches in and around the resort of Acapulco.

Environmental protection officer Manuel de Jesus Solis says his agency found 12 dead turtles bearing marks apparently caused by fishing nets. It was unclear which fishing boats were involved.

Victor Berdejo says another 47 dead turtles were found by personnel at a turtle-protection area he supervises.

The sea turtles, once hunted in Mexico for their meat and eggs, were declared a protected species in 1990. Fishermen are required to include turtle escape devices in their nets.

Read more!

Indian army to help prevent rhino poaching

Yahoo News 26 Jul 08;

Authorities in northeastern India have asked the army to help protect endangered one-horned rhinoceroses from poachers and have made the soldiers honorary wildlife wardens, officials said Saturday.

"The army will now assist the authorities at the Kaziranga National Park in protecting the rhino," park director S.N. Buragohain told The Associated Press.

The soldiers will live in tents in the park, he said.

The 267 square mile park, about 135 miles east of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, is home to more than 1,800 of the world's estimated 3,000 one-horned rhinoceroses.

Poachers killed about 20 rhinos in the park last year and six have been killed so far this year.

"The army's presence is expected to keep poachers away. This is good news for us," Buragohain said.

Soldiers have also been asked to be part of anti-poaching drives in at least six other national parks and sanctuaries in the state.

Gangs of armed poachers kill rhinos for their horns, which many believe have aphrodisiac qualities and are used in medicines in parts of South and Southeast Asia.

Rhino horns are also popular in the Middle East, where they are fashioned into handles for ornamental daggers.

Authorities in Assam earlier deployed lightly armed forest guards in Kaziranga who were unable to stop the poaching.

Read more!

Sorry Bambi - Disney's no solution

The Telegraph 26 Jul 08;

National Parks must cater for humans as well as animals, says Exmoor native Adrian Tierney-Jones

It's 7am on the craggy slopes of Tryfan in the Snowdonia National Park. The wild magnificence of the mountains is exhilarating as I climb in splendid isolation.

But, four hours later, as I come down, I am squeezed against the rock as a long queue of eager mountaineers take turns at ascending the spiky northern crest. Down below, the sun glints off the hordes of cars crammed along the verges.

A few hundred miles south in Exmoor, there's a crush of cars and armies of picnickers at Landacre Bridge, where the River Barle cuts through a landscape of bleakly beautiful moorland.

As the summer progresses, parts of the Lake District will close to traffic as the crowds throng to walk in Wordsworth's footsteps. A trip to a National Park has never been more popular. But is this a good thing or not?

Monday sees the start of National Parks Week, a celebration of Britain's 14 natural reserves. There's no doubt that, as air, light and noise pollution increases, the parks remain important oases of tranquillity for city dwellers - somewhere to escape the frenzied consumerism of our age.

According to Frances Whitehead at Northumberland National Park, they also have an important environmental role: "Restoration (rewetting) of the Border Mires and upland blanket bogs is sequesting many times more carbon in the earth than the equivalent area in forests," she says.

"It is storing and slowing the movement of rainwater through the landscape, avoiding flash-flooding." Similarly important environmental and wildlife projects are happening in all parks across the country.

However, there is a dilemma. The greater the park's popularity, the more chance of environmental damage. Too many visitors and you get erosion and disturbance of habitats. Property prices can also rise alarmingly. Living on Exmoor, I repeatedly hear the very valid complaints of long-established local families whose youngsters simply cannot get a toehold on the housing ladder.

There is also a slightly queasy "preserved in aspic" element in park life. Dunster, for example, is on the southernmost edge of Exmoor and is a magical village, complete with fairytale castle, cobbled streets, ancient stone-built inn and medieval yarn market.

Take a closer look, though, and you'll notice that, apart from a post office and a hardware shop, there is not one practical everyday shop. No butcher, no baker, not even a Co-op. Shopping in Dunster is aimed firmly at the tourists - if you were stuck there, you'd end up surviving on fudge.

Living in a park isn't the rural idyll you would imagine. Small schools, post offices and shops close as houses are snapped up by outsiders. Many National Park villages lie in darkness in winter, as second homes stay empty. Rural poverty is not unknown: the average wage in the Lake District, for example, is £15,000 per annum.

Planning regulations can be obtuse and petty. Back in 1999, our Exmoor valley was due to be converted to mains electricity. But the National Park (along with the Ramblers' Association) objected to the plan, because the wires would "spoil the view".

It was back to the drawing-board and, a year later, the wires went underground - at a cost that several neighbours simply couldn't afford.

Lisa Brumby has lived on Dartmoor for 30 years and has mixed feelings. "I often wonder what previous eras would make of our treatment of Dartmoor today," she says. "In past times Dartmoor was a place of great industrial activity - tinning, quarrying, granite working, peat and clay extraction.

I wonder if we try a bit too hard to preserve it today? On the other hand, I do believe we need an authority to avoid the sort of awfulness you find at Land's End. However, their actions should be tempered with common sense."

Rachel Thomas is the president of the Exmoor Society, which she describes as a "critical friend" of the Exmoor National Park authority. "We do need the parks," she insists. "They have incredible resources and an amazing bio-diversity. You can go on to parts of Exmoor and Dartmoor and there is a Bronze Age landscape. We need this wildness."

I agree. Our national parks are essential, especially as the Government seems intent on covering rural England in concrete. In fact, I'd argue, we could probably do with extending their boundaries or creating new parks to safeguard other vulnerable rural areas.

However, in order to survive without being Disney-fied, it is essential that parks remain living, working landscapes. I would like to see a commitment to creating, within the existing confines of park towns and villages, affordable local housing and local business opportunities.

There should also be help and encouragement for traditional ways of farming and rural skills (hill farming is in crisis and, if it goes, then the landscapes we love so much will go with it). To be fair, park authorities do seem to be waking up to the problems that affect local people.

The bottom line is, I'd rather have the parks than not (without them, I dread to think how our wildernesses would look). We should be friends of the parks but always, as Rachel Thomas says, critical friends.

Read more!