SWT’s GIS, Research and Monitoring Manager Ben Siggery and Director of Research and Monitoring Mike Waite headed to Denmark in early February to attend an international conference titled “A Place for the Heathlands?”. This gathering of specialists from across Europe aimed to explore the past 5,000 Years of human-nature coexistence on heathlands in Northern Europe and answer the question of whether or not there remains a place for these iconic landscapes in the modern world. (Spoiler alert – the answer is yes!).
Set at the charming Moesgaard Museum, the conference was organised by the ANTHEA project based at Aarhus University. The project focuses on better understanding heathlands as anthropogenic (human-created) landscapes in prehistory and the modern day. Speakers represented the spectrum of European heathlands, ranging from as far north as Iceland to as far south as Spain, as well as the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and of course the UK.
The story of heathlands in the UK mirrors that across many of the other countries that shared their stories at the conference. Heathlands across the continent face the threat of extinction after 150 years of agriculture-driven landscape change. This is despite a rich history dating back to when heathlands had a key role in supporting prehistoric communities, functioning as winter pasture and a source of fuel, fertiliser and building materials. The evidence suggests that there is a complex history of human-heathland coexistence, with humans alternately promoting and abandoning them.
The conference explored all aspects of heathlands, starting with neolithic man building barrows and ending with modern conservation practice. The audience was a fascinating mix of ecologists, archaeologists, palaeoecologists, artists and even a few shepherds. Much like our ancestors on the heathlands, each one of us had a connection to the landscape but across a spectrum of different perspectives. This really illustrated how important heathlands remain to humans, and highlighted our co-dependence with them - as of course, these landscapes only exist with human intervention.
The lesson we bring home for Surrey’s heaths is one of hope – we aren’t alone in our ambitions for nature recovery and protecting the remaining lowland heathland in the county. The other important takeaway for us, was that it’s not only ecologists and conservationists who are fighting for this – humans have always had an intertwined existence with heathlands and they have a huge cultural and economic significance. Through Surrey Wildlife Trust's work, we will ensure that there will always be “a place for the heathlands” in Surrey.
You can read and explore the digital publication that was launched at the conference at https://heathland.place/
