Moorland landscapes: what do people want, who wants it, and can they have it all?

Dugald Tinch, University of Stirling

Link to project: The Sustainability of Hill Farming

Upland landscapes in the UK are in a state of flux, due partly to the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, and its likely impacts on how farming is conducted in these "less favoured areas". Recent work by DEFRA has sought to understand how greater social benefits can be obtained from re-designing one of the most influential aspects of government support for farming economic value of the landscapes and habitats that upland farming can generate. However, it would be foolish to believe that preferences towards upland landscapes and habitats are homogenous. Instead, they are likely to vary widely between, for example, "specialist" user groups such as ramblers and bird watchers, the general public and the farming community.

The aim of this studentship is to investigate this diversity of preferences and values, using stated preference methods. However, it will also seek to understand what combinations of environmental outcomes are ecologically possible and likely, given current and likely pressures on the moorland environment.