Conservatives and Champions: River Managers and the River Restoration Discourse in the United Kingdom

Abstract

IntroductionEnvironmental restoration is a central rhetorical component of debates about sustainability. Whereas the primary motivation for conservation through the 20th century was to preserve elements of`wild nature' from extinction (Adams, 2003), an allied concern was for the restoration of ecosystems degraded by human action [for example, US prairie habitats destroyed by intensive agriculture (Jordan et al, 1987a) or the rehabilitation of polluted industrial land (Bradshaw, 1987;]. In the 1980s and 1990s restoration ecology developed as a branch within ecology. The Society for Ecological Restoration was founded in 1988 and the journals Ecological Restoration in 1981 and Restoration Ecology in 1993. The World Conservation Strategy (IUCN, 1980) drew upon the notion of ecological restoration in its effort to link the previously opposed impulses to preserve and exploit nature through the concept of sustainable development (Adams, 2001). Environmental restoration, preservation, protection, and sustainable utilisation were presented as parallel means of achieving conservation.Restoration ecology has enjoyed expanding commercial and state planning applications (for example, Eden et al, 1999;Jordan et al, 1987b;Perrow and Davy, 2002). It implies the possibility of`win^win' solutions to sustainability dilemmas in spatial planning, whereby negative environmental impacts of developments can be offset or compensated for by habitat creation elsewhere, or by habitat restoration after industrial use has finished. Such approaches (for example, creating biodiverse boating lakes from gravel pits, or recreating chalk downland on former roads made redundant by new motorways) have become commonplace, although they remain controversial (

‘Catchment Consciousness’ – Will Mantra, Metric or Mania Best Protect, Restore and Manage Habitats?

“…We daily encounter an established orthodoxy which promotes an engineering concept of 'stability' (Adams et al 2004). Whilst these authors claim 'The emphasis on the idea of restoration has become part of discursive and practical strategies in environmental planning', they also remind us that 'Restoration champions therefore continue to function within broadly conservative organisations, suspicious of their proposals.…”

Engineers and planners: sustainable water management alliances

“…In many cases, this comfortable institutional arrangement persists, with the mind-sets of less progressive planners and engineers proving difficult to change (Moss and Monstadt, 2007). The lack of track record for the new approaches to integrated water management leaves these engineers and planners dismissive or cautious of the new environmental discipline, their ideologies creating mechanisms of path dependency, posing significant barriers and frustrating attempts to innovate from their more progressive colleagues (Adams et al, 2004). As Moss and Monstadt (2007) note, there is mounting 'anecdotal' evidence that it is not local stakeholders who fail to appreciate recent shifts in government policy, but that they are unable to follow policy as they themselves and central government would like.…”

The Relation Between Urban Riverbank Reconstruction and Tourism Attractiveness Shaping- A Case Study of Love River in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

“…Based on the river's functions and water quality and considering the opinions of multiple scholars (Wang, 2007;Yang, 2008), the development history of Love River can be divided into five stages: (1) construction of sewers and a floodgate system was carried out; the Love River's scenery regulation plan was formulated. These efforts together with other measures that fit the local conditions drove the transformation of the scenery and space along the river.…”

“…With many issues involved, urban riverbank development is based on the three principles of ecological environment, spatial system, and human psychology, and its planning is carried out in eight aspects, including nature, cleanliness, safety, accessibility, development, history, and regional features (Shi et al, 2009). Past research has shown that the functions and traits of urban rivers could be explored from four angles, including environmental, city, space and human angles (Japan Society of Civil Engineers, 1988; Adams, 2004); the functions of urban rivers and banks include ecological protection, water flow, water control, hydroelectric power generation, disaster prevention, transportation, scenery shaping, provision of activity venues and medical treatment. Human activities along rivers could be classified into eight categories, including rest, sightseeing, performance, sport, transport, local traditional folk events, scenery appreciation and education.…”

“…With the increase in the number of tourists visiting Love River, it has become necessary to learn the different expectations and requirements of various tourist groups and grasp the river's core value; only then, with comprehensive coordinated measures, can sustainable riverbank tourism attractiveness be achieved. In summary, the objectives of this study include the following: (1) learning the significance of riverbank tourism to government, local residents, and tourists as well as its strengths and weaknesses; (2) analyzing the impact of riverbank development on tourism attractiveness and learning the riverbank's value for urban development and tourism; (3) summarizing the attractive elements of riverbank tourism and proposing concrete suggestions for current riverbank sightseeing forms.…”