UKH

The Lake District awarded UNESCO World Heritage status

© Lake District National Park/Andrew Locking
Nick Brown UKC

This has been read 12,662 times

The Lake District has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, joining just over 1000 other locations worldwide, including Machu Picchu, the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon. The Lake District National Park Partnership organised the bid for UNESCO recognition in the cultural landscape category and the Chairman of the Partnership, Lord Clark of Windermere, described the prestigious status as 'momentous.'

View of Ullswater from Gowbarrow Park – this photo is included in the Lake District’s bid for World Heritage Status © Lake District National Park/Andrew Locking
View of Ullswater from Gowbarrow Park – this photo is included in the Lake District’s bid for World Heritage Status
© Lake District National Park/Andrew Locking

UNESCO cited the area's natural beauty, farmed landscape and cultural inspiration. Speaking after the decision, Lord Clark said: "It is this exceptional blend which makes our Lake District so spectacularly unique and we are delighted UNESCO has agreed. A great many people have come together to make this happen and we believe the decision will have long and lasting benefits for the spectacular Lake District landscape, the 18 million visitors we welcome every year and for the people who call the National Park their home."

Supporters of the bid included several organisations such as the National Trust, Cumbria County Council, the Lake District National Park Authority and the Forestry Commission. These bodies believe that the UNESCO status will boost local tourism and that 1% more visitors would bring an extra £20 million to the local economy.

photo
Langdale Sunrise
© Nick Brown

There are some concerned voices about the new status however. George Monbiot writes in the Guardian that the UNESCO award would keep the Lake District in its current over-farmed state, which has led to a lack of diversity in wildlife, few new trees in woodland areas, dredged rivers and bare mountainsides.

The Lake District now joins 29 other World Heritage sites in the UK, including Hadrian's Wall and St Kilda.

This post has been read 12,662 times

Return to Latest News

Comments

CragRat11
10 Jul, 2017
Personally I agree with Monbiot, and I struggle to see how this is a particularly positive thing. Preserving a largely unprofitable, unsustainable way of life (sheep farming) that creates and maintains barren monocultures and destroys wildlife and wild habitat, and is 2/3rds funded by the EU which we are supposed to be leaving??? Unless they can adopt a very forward thinking approach to this (excuse me for being pessimistic) it could freeze The Lake District in a state of immense challenge. And it could raise house prices even further and encourage even more second homes, making it even more overwhelmingly impossible for people who grew up here to ever buy their own home and build upon their roots. How long will people in positions of political power carry on skipping about with their fingers in their ears celebrating sheep farming and fox hunting and not considering the things that will actually sustain the place? Obviously tourism has positive and negative sides. It is a place of 'outstanding natural beauty' but it's also a place where people live, or want to live.
sfletch
10 Jul, 2017
The culture being traditional hill farming...
CragRat11
11 Jul, 2017
I believe that a lot of the culture in The Lake District should be celebrated and respected, but we must also respectfully move on from outdated practices. Sheep farming is an important part of our heritage and can carry on in small pockets, but the perception that the Lake District is built upon it and that's all the tourists want to see is damaging and non-progressive. Using the example fox hunting, yes we can appreciate the photos of the hounds on the wall of the pub and remember the John Peel poems but that tradition should be left in the past and never exercised again (there are people who still want this to carry on!). It's possible to lets these traditions die with a level of respect. The fact that the 'farmed landscape' is right at the top of the list of things UNESCO have cited worries me greatly. The fact that this is being championed by a Lord who probably lives in a castle on the shores of Lake Windermere also worries me, and suggests that everyday working people are no-where near the agenda for this particular badge of honour.
More Comments
Add Comment
Loading Notifications...
Facebook Twitter Copy Email