In no way do I want to criticise or devalue the work of Lynn Bennett-Mackenzie. She clearly has a style that is both energetic and sensitive to her environment. However, I have come across plenty of people who think that the placing of such cultural artefacts in natural environments is at best littering and at worst an act of landscape vandalism. I'm not suggesting that the destruction of this work was done by art critics or wild land enthusiasts but even the building of a stone cairn in such locations can incite rage in some to the point of demolition.

I heard Hamish Fulton remark that every time he came across sculpture in nature he wanted to put a notice on it that said ' birds once flew here'. An article I read in the John Muir Trust magazine a couple of years ago gave a full page of blistering rhetoric on this subject, pointing the finger at artists such as Goldsworthy and Glob pretty much describing them as litter louts. The author could have added Gormley to this list I'm sure, and I for one would not be averse to such a critique if it were not for the fact that such installations have been around in sacred locations for thousands of years in the form of stone circles etc. Maybe it is as Caroline Stanton says, a process of allowing these 'things' to mature in landscape a 'growing up over time'.

After hundreds of years maybe no one will think of them as either bad art or an intrusion into nature.

The decline of linguistic and cultural diversity is linked to the loss of biodiversity, a study has suggested.The authors said that 70% of the world's languages were found within the planet's biodiversity hotspots.Data showed that as these important environmental areas were degraded over time, cultures and languages in the area were also being lost.The results of the study have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"Biologists estimate annual loss of species at 1,000 times or more greater than historic rates, and linguists predict that 50-90% of the world's languages will disappear by the end of the century," the researchers wrote.

Lead author Larry Gorenflo from Penn State University, in the US, said previous studies had identified a geographical connection between the two, but did not offer the level of detail required.Dr Gorenflo told BBC News that the limitation to the data was that either the languages were listed by country or there was a dot on the map to indicate the location.

"But what you did not know was if the area extended two kilometres or 200 kilometres, so you really did not get a sense of the extent of the language," he explained."We used improved language data to really get a more solid sense of how languages and biodiversity co-occurred and an understanding of how geographically extensive the language was."

He said the study achieved this by also looking at smaller areas with high biodiversity, such as national parks or other protected habitats.

"When we did that, not only did we get a sense of co-occurrence at a regional scale, but we also got a sense that co-occurrence was found at a much finer scale," he said."We are not quite sure yet why this happens, but in a lot of cases it may well be that biodiversity evolved as part-and-parcel of cultural diversity, and vice versa."

In their paper, the researchers pointed out that, out of the 6,900 or more languages spoken on Earth, more than 4,800 occurred in regions containing high biodiversity.Dr Gorenflo described these locations as "very important landscapes" which were "getting fewer and fewer" but added that the study's data could help provide long-term security.

"It provides a wonderful opportunity to integrate conservation efforts - you can have people who can get funding for biological conservation, and they can collaborate with people who can get funding for linguistic or cultural conservation," he suggested.

"In the past, it was hard to get biologists to look at people. That has really changed dramatically in the past few years. One thing that a lot of biologists and ecologists are now seeing is that people are part of these ecosystems."

This short film tells the story of the efforts being made to restore the native woodlands on the Knoydart peninsula, known as the Last Wilderness in Britain. Filmed in 2011-12 and an entrant to the Wildscreen Festival Panda Awards. http://www.jimmanthorpe.com/videos/#

UNISCAPE and Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-La Villette are jointly organizing the international conference "Landscape & Imagination. Towards a new baseline for education in a changing world", which will be held in Paris 2-4 May 2013. 

 

The aim of the conference is to discuss the contribution that education and training in landscape science can make to governance of a world in transition. The conference will address the following questions: How can emerging trends be addressed in landscape education and research undertaken by universities, departments of architecture, landscape management, town planning, landscape ecology, horticulture, agronomy, and so on? What links should be developed with other scientific fields? What knowledge and know-how needs to be reconsidered? How can different perceptions of the environment be considered in the education system? How can we “move beyond modernity” and use the resources of imagination to design the foundations of sustainable landscapes? The debate during this international conference is also intended to contribute to the establishment of a world landscape convention that is currently being studied as an initiative of IFLA.

 

Authors wishing to present a paper are invited to submit an abstract of their proposed paper in either English or French. The proposal shall not exceed 800 characters (spaces included) and must relate to one of the conference themes. It must be submitted by the 15th of June 2012. Please find all  information in the call for papers enclosed.

The conference will be held with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and Communications, the Council of Europe, with the partnership in Paris of the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine. It is organised by UNISCAPE (European Network of Universities for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention) and the Laboratory AMP (Architecture, Milieu, Paysage) UMR LAVUE 7218 CNRS/Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-La Villette, with the support of the TOPIA network, LANDSCAPE EUROPE, IALE Europe, CIVIL-SCAPE, EFLA, ECLAS and AESOP.

How about a paper on imagining and designing wild landscapes? Now that would be interesting!

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA)

Scotland has many different landscapes: woodland, farmland, croftland, urban, coastal, mountainous, and within these there are many variations.  For example, woodland can be coniferous (such as pine, spruce or fir) or broadleaved (such as birch, willow or oak) or a mix;  farmland can have field boundaries of dykes (stone walls), ditches, hedges or fences;   urban areas can have their buildings widely spaced or densely packed;  mountains can be rocky and rugged or smooth and rounded. 

What is landscape character assessment?

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) is a standard system for identifying, describing, classifying and mapping this variety of landscape: it helps explain what makes landscapes different from each other. The whole of Scotland has been mapped and described.

LCA provides baseline information that can be used to guide landscape change - by feeding into development plans, decisions on development proposals, land management plans, indicative forestry strategies and agri-environment schemes.

Find landscape character assessment reports

Click on the map below to find a report or browse the full list of Landscape Character Assessment reports.

Further information

More information on the practical uses of LCA can be found in our tools and techniques pages and on the Landscape Character Network website  .

See also:

• Landscape character assessment - how it is done
• Landscape character assessment - further information

A section of the new map inspired by the London Underground guide

A new map of Scotland's highest mountains has been inspired by the layout of the guide to the London Underground.

Peter Burgess, a former geography teacher living in East Ham in London, created the MunrOverground.

It shows Munros - mountains higher than 3,000ft - and landscapes such as Linn of Dee in Aberdeenshire.

The geographer previously created Tubular Fells, a topological map of England's Lakeland Fells.

The new map groups Scotland's mountains into a number of lines, including the Skye Line, the Knoydart, Skye and Affric Line and the Southern Hills.

These are "blended" with the national rail network and long distance paths such as the West Highland Way, Sutherland Trail and Great Glen Way.

The John Muir Trust and Scottish Mountain Rescue will receive a donation from every map sold.

Mr Burgess said he had enjoyed mapping Scotland.

He said: "I've not climbed many Munros, but a tally approaching 40 isn't too bad.

"I've climbed lots of the lesser hills, with Suilven being one of my favourites."

Interesting article (an essay by Caroline Stanton) from an interesting blog on art, landscape and renewable energy.