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Originally Posted by ecocumbria  I live here too, out in the sticks just a dog walk from the Ennerdale Valley. Walking and cycling is superb but you have to remember that over-grazing by sheep has rendered the Cumbrian uplands a biological desert. Ennerdale is undergoing a management change that will make it a wilderness the likes that England has not seen for hundreds of years. Can't wait, I spend many hours up in the fells enjoying the scenery and work out but I am always angered at the lack of wildlife courtesy of them wooly backed naffing lawn mowers. The local fell farmers will tell you sheep are needed to preserve the character of the Lake District, I say remove agricultural subsidy and get the sheep off of the fells and lets get some natural biomass back. |
A beautiful corner of England but "a biological desert" indeed. I've never really pondered the link between this observation and the amount of sheep until now but how right you are! I walked from Patterdale to Wasdale Head over four days from the 31st. of March this year and saw very little (apart from a nesting pair of peregrines and three red deer). I simply couldn't believe how little wildlife I saw over such a vast area.
In other parts of europe, and at similar altitudes, this doesn't seem to be the case (I'm thinking specifically of Slovenia where I visited earlier this year). I think it's a real shame that the Lakes, as beautiful as it is on the eye, leaves me feeling a bit hollow with regards to the general lack of wildlife.
I sincerely hope this Ennerdale project of which you speak turns out to be fantastic and gives such movements a real head of steam! Many thanks for enlightening me!