Having to pick a favourite place is always going to be tricky – but always near the top of my list is the Forest of Bowland. A beautiful landscape of moorland and valleys in north Lancashire where I spent an idyllic six months counting birds and looking after hen harriers. It was my first job for the RSPB way back in 1982. I was working very closely with one of the moorland owners – the then North West Water Authority – and their farming and shooting tenants. The spring and summer of 1982 was warm and sunny and I quickly grew to love the largely hidden world of Bowland. I learned a huge amount about the uplands and its wildlife both by being out in amongst it every day and from the people I met as I walked the hills. The photograph shows a nest of hen harriers – a picture I took in 1982. It is entirely possible that their descendants are the birds that still know Bowland as a safe place to nest.
Yesterday I was at the launch of the RSPB’s Futurescapes initiative and was transported back to the Bowland as we listened to a description of the place as it is now. Ian Grindy of United Utilities (the direct descendant of the North West Water Authority) and Don McKay from the Forest of Bowland AONB joined RSPB’s Andrew Gouldstone in describing the cooperation and working together that is delivering for wildlife and people.
In the early 80s Bowland was the English stronghold for hen harriers – they had recolonised the area after an absence of many years. Three decades on it’s still the English stronghold for hen harriers and the future looks positive – not just for the harriers but for the whole environment of Bowland. Beyond the intrinsic value of the nature of Bowland, the hills provide a vital role for us (an ecosystem service in the current jargon) as gathering grounds for water. United Utilities are in Bowland for that central reason. The partnership of interests between a water utility, the people who farm their land, the RSPB and all the others with interests in the area is bringing real benefits now and will ensure that the Forest of Bowland has a future with its natural environment and its people placed at its heart.
You can read some more about yesterday's launch here.