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Land use and the European environment
be seen as provisional; but in any event, it will be interesting for English-speaking readers to be aware of the attention Central America is giving to urban ecology.
l-AND
Lund
llSE
USP and
the European
Environment,
M. Whitby and J. Ollerenshaw (Editors), Belhaven Press, London, 1988. 189 pp., price E25.00, ISBN 1 185293-035-7.
This book stems from a conference at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the European Year of the Environment, 1987. It contains I 1 papers from contributors. plus an introduction and two concluding papers by the editors and their colleagues at Newcastle. The main part of the text is divided into three sections on technology, policies and national landuse planning systems. The technology section contains three chapters on rural land-use change in Europe, biotechnology and the role of lower-input technologies. The first of these is largely concerned with methodology: data on actual land-use change being sparse and evidence of its relation to policy even more slender. The chapter on biotechnology outlines some of the ways it may affect agriculture and forestry and the environmental benefits and risks this may incur. Although biotechnological development would seem to offer some opportunities for lower chemical input agriculture and forestry (for example, by engineering disease resistance into plants) this is not pursued in this or the final chapter of the section which concentrates largely on sustainable (organic ) farming systems: reporting on some of the Dutch, German and Swiss research into its environmental ef-
fects compared with more conventional systems. The second section of the book examines policies through a consideration of the impact of public policies on rural land-use, environmental concern and rural conservation politics and a consideration of the European role in the rural environment. This section considers the growth of the environmental movement, its preoccupations and how these can be translated into policies to protect the environment. The first and last chapters are largely concerned with the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy and how these might be developed into new, wider, rural policies to embrace environmental and social as well as revised agricultural objectives. The middle chapter draws some interesting comparisons between British concerns and priorities compared with those elsewhere in Europe, but this section is written almost exclusively from a British viewpoint, so it does not really address the very wide range of different agricultural and environmental perceptions and aspirations which characterise countries as disparate as, Denmark and Greece within the Say. Community. Some of these different national approaches to land-use issues and planning are dealt with in the next section in which the planning systems of The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland. Federal Republic of Germany, France and the United Kingdom are described by experts from these countries. This will likely prove to be the most interesting and useful part of the book to most readers. The contrasts between, for example, the highly centralised, systematic and resource-based approach of the Dutch with the much more locally and politically controlled systems elsewhere, notably in France, shows how different perceptions within different structures can lead to very different priorities. These three sections are wrapped in an introduction and two concluding chapters on technology and the environment and issues and policies, which together account for nearly a
391
third of the text. The penultimate chapter is a thoughtful, perceptive and finally optimistic evaluation of the ways in which new technologies may in the future give policy makers much greater choice in land-use policies and decisions. The final chapter begins with a rather indulgent, overlong, didactic exposition of the economist’s approach to the issues before turning to a much more useful, incisive analysis of the alternative policy responses to overcapacity within the agricultural industry and the ways in which environmental values can be brought into the economist’s accounting. Like most compilations from meetings of this sort, this book inevitably suffers from a
lack of cohesion, each chapter being approached in its own way and with only a minimum of cross-referencing and continuity between them. It, nonetheless, contains some most interesting material, much of it not readily available elsewhere and will be of value to all involved in land-use planning and environmental policy.
Department
ofAgriculture,
BRYN H. GREEN and Environment Wye College C’niversity c$ London, b’ye .Ashford, Kent TN25 5‘411 C’.K.
Horticulture
l-AND
Lund
llSE
USP and
the European
Environment,
M. Whitby and J. Ollerenshaw (Editors), Belhaven Press, London, 1988. 189 pp., price E25.00, ISBN 1 185293-035-7.
This book stems from a conference at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the European Year of the Environment, 1987. It contains I 1 papers from contributors. plus an introduction and two concluding papers by the editors and their colleagues at Newcastle. The main part of the text is divided into three sections on technology, policies and national landuse planning systems. The technology section contains three chapters on rural land-use change in Europe, biotechnology and the role of lower-input technologies. The first of these is largely concerned with methodology: data on actual land-use change being sparse and evidence of its relation to policy even more slender. The chapter on biotechnology outlines some of the ways it may affect agriculture and forestry and the environmental benefits and risks this may incur. Although biotechnological development would seem to offer some opportunities for lower chemical input agriculture and forestry (for example, by engineering disease resistance into plants) this is not pursued in this or the final chapter of the section which concentrates largely on sustainable (organic ) farming systems: reporting on some of the Dutch, German and Swiss research into its environmental ef-
fects compared with more conventional systems. The second section of the book examines policies through a consideration of the impact of public policies on rural land-use, environmental concern and rural conservation politics and a consideration of the European role in the rural environment. This section considers the growth of the environmental movement, its preoccupations and how these can be translated into policies to protect the environment. The first and last chapters are largely concerned with the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy and how these might be developed into new, wider, rural policies to embrace environmental and social as well as revised agricultural objectives. The middle chapter draws some interesting comparisons between British concerns and priorities compared with those elsewhere in Europe, but this section is written almost exclusively from a British viewpoint, so it does not really address the very wide range of different agricultural and environmental perceptions and aspirations which characterise countries as disparate as, Denmark and Greece within the Say. Community. Some of these different national approaches to land-use issues and planning are dealt with in the next section in which the planning systems of The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland. Federal Republic of Germany, France and the United Kingdom are described by experts from these countries. This will likely prove to be the most interesting and useful part of the book to most readers. The contrasts between, for example, the highly centralised, systematic and resource-based approach of the Dutch with the much more locally and politically controlled systems elsewhere, notably in France, shows how different perceptions within different structures can lead to very different priorities. These three sections are wrapped in an introduction and two concluding chapters on technology and the environment and issues and policies, which together account for nearly a
391
third of the text. The penultimate chapter is a thoughtful, perceptive and finally optimistic evaluation of the ways in which new technologies may in the future give policy makers much greater choice in land-use policies and decisions. The final chapter begins with a rather indulgent, overlong, didactic exposition of the economist’s approach to the issues before turning to a much more useful, incisive analysis of the alternative policy responses to overcapacity within the agricultural industry and the ways in which environmental values can be brought into the economist’s accounting. Like most compilations from meetings of this sort, this book inevitably suffers from a
lack of cohesion, each chapter being approached in its own way and with only a minimum of cross-referencing and continuity between them. It, nonetheless, contains some most interesting material, much of it not readily available elsewhere and will be of value to all involved in land-use planning and environmental policy.
Department
ofAgriculture,
BRYN H. GREEN and Environment Wye College C’niversity c$ London, b’ye .Ashford, Kent TN25 5‘411 C’.K.
Horticulture