Room for nature? Conservation management of the Isle of Rum, UK and prospects for large protected areas in Europe Original Research Article

The Isle of Rum is one of the largest protected areas in UK and has been owned and managed by national conservation agencies since 1957. Detailed management plans have been prepared. The restoration of more natural conditions has been a principal objective for over 40 years. Even so, commercial forestry techniques have been used to reinstate native woodlands and domestic livestock were introduced to assist in the diversification of grasslands on the island. Many other management practices have been similar to ones employed in Highland deer forests, rather than specific to the needs of conservation and the restoration of a more natural state. The present population of red deer were introduced to Rum, but it is not certain that deer are truly native to the island. Nevertheless, conservation managers are now attempting to integrate deer into the replanted woodland. This is unlikely to replicate conditions that formerly existed on Rum since the interpretation of a pollen core suggests that, almost 4000 years ago, the native woodland declined when grazing animals arrived on the island. Managers also wish to preserve mementoes of earlier occupation and sustain and expand its present human population. Rum is one of a series of prime conservation sites selected under the Habitats Directive of the European Union. However, in seeking to protect the wildlife that is special to Europe, this legislation may promote the preservation of plant and animal communities that are principally cultural artefacts, rather than encourage a reliance on natural processes and the ecosystems they engender. Whilst this may be a reasonable approach to the conservation management of small and isolated reserves, it is evident that similar practices are used in some of the largest and most secure sites. There is a danger that, in seeking to preserve the parts (species and communities), conservation in Europe may lose sight of the entity that includes natural variability and the processes that sustain wild ecosystems.