Anyone who spent time over Christmas in one of Britain’s 15 national parks will probably have encountered a moment such as this. You are on a footpath in the middle of open country. Slowly, you become aware of an intensifying whine of engine noise, until a caravan of dirt bikers grinds into view and proceeds down the footpath on which you stand. You are evicted from its route. Minutes later, you have to stand aside again, grabbing dogs and children, as it tears back past. The bikes’ disruptive decibels linger on, until the racket is finally beyond earshot.
In the past two decades, there has been a huge increase in forms of recreations that require machines: off-road 4x4 vehicles, scramblers’ dirt bikes, quad bikes, jet skis, paramotors (motorised parachutes) and drones. Often, the proponents of such activity have sought and been given changes to by-law legislation to make their pursuit legal, which national-park authorities have been powerless to resist.
Yet there is a paradox at play here: the proponents of these activities need open space and seem drawn to the tranquillity of countryside as a backdrop, but the peace that was genuinely there is lost the moment they arrive. In short, they foul their own nest and inflict stress and disturbance upon everyone else, human and wildlife.
Many of these activities are now viewed as a major problem. They churn up footpaths; they bring a needless threat to traffic-free places. They damage important habitats, aggravate farmers, disturb livestock. Research shows that engine noise causes elevated cortisol levels and other symptoms of stress in many wild creatures. A single paramotor passing over a coastal wetland can leave in its wake huge, billowing flocks of distressed waterbirds. Such unnecessary noise should be seen for what it is: pollution every bit as problematic as sewage in rivers.
This is not a call for a vow of silence. There are necessary noises in rural places. The countryside is a working, managed environment and agricultural sounds are intrinsic to it. However, measures that mandate only quiet enjoyment of national parks are surely long overdue. All 15 designated landscapes cover 23,138sq km (about 9,000 square miles), which is about 10% per cent of the country. Nine-tenths of Britain would be unaffected, so it’s hardly unreasonable.
The Campaign for National Parks (CNP) recently issued a health report that warned that only 6% of national-park land in England and Wales is in good environmental condition. CNP itself campaigns against noise as a contributory negative factor. We must assert a right to quiet in these precious landscapes.
Credit: Getty Images
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