Managing Upland Resources: New Approaches for Rural Environments

The overarching approach of the book is to provide a tool kit for those individuals, groups or organisations looking to manage the upland resource for the benefit of all. Readers are provided with a range of practical options to develop their own solutions. The book is written in such a way that readers can dip in and out of sections to plug knowledge gaps or read in its entirety for those experiencing a first foray into the complexities of upland resource management. Increasingly, rural areas are becoming recognised as a wider resource beyond traditional food, fibre and water, leading to inevitable management tensions. Goal setting, vision and strategy development, management planning, aims, objectives and prescription (actions) are considered and some of the new agendas for resource use in uplands which may be worth consideration for individual projects are explored. This comprehensive book deals with the implementation, advantages and disadvantages of a range of traditional and contemporary resource management approaches which are then expanded upon by a range of resource management professionals based on their own experiences.

Table of Contents:
Upland resource management: why has it failed?. The character of traditional upland resource use. Setting goals for uplands. Resource appraisal techniques. Approaches to resource management. Case studies: working with people. Case studies: working with territories. Monitoring and evaluation. Upland resource management: new agendas.

About the Author :
Dr Lois Mansfield is Principal Lecturer in Outdoor Studies, Department of Science, Natural Resources and Outdoor Studies at the University of Cumbria.

Review :
`A truly monumental collection of facts, figures, pictures, and charts has just been created... ...she makes it an easy and entertaining read, and is joined by a group of experts, young and old, who have contributed to what must be The Handbook for anyone interested in current and future National Parks, and their conservation and use’. Exmoor News `A wonderfully comprehensive and insightful exploration of the multiplicity of issues affecting the uplands. The focus boxes are really good’. John Clarkson, Senior Lecturer Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent University `...we need more and better livelihoods in the uplands – Lois Mansfield’s new book shows, with some much needed intellectual rigour, how this can be achieved. There’s a nice set of tables...giving a pick-and-mix menu for upland resource management which is well worth thumbing through’. Alan Spedding, RuSource the rural information network and Royal Agricultural Society of England Members’ Agri-Bulletin `...an invaluable blueprint for the future. ...a narrative, interspersed with diagrams, coloured charts, tables, lists of all kinds to which you can refer for evidence and information. The results of an immense amount of research are summarised and acknowledged. Most interesting are the large sections of case studies of `working with people’, and `working with territories’. ...this most complete reference book for the professionals, the scientist, the academic, or the amateur upland enthusiast. It’s a one-book degree-course – highly recommended’. George Macpherson, Consultant Editor to Appropriate Technology Magazine It really is a super book! It is so comprehensive... is full of interesting diversions and its photos give one even more of an idea of what’s being discussed. ... brings so many disciplines together – agriculture, defence, history, biology and even fun! George Macpherson, Farming writer and broadcaster