My Life in Landscape: Sally Marsh

We asked eleven landscape professionals, all at different stages in their careers, to tell us what inspired them to follow a career in landscape.

Sally is a Fellow of LI and Director of High Weald AONB Partnership. She took a BSc Environmental Biology at the University of Liverpool, followed by an MSc in Landscape Ecology, Design and Maintenance at Wye College (London University).

What inspired you to decide to study to become a landscape professional?

I grew up in suburban Surrey but spent my spare time in the countryside and always wanted to be an ecologist. It wasn’t until I worked alongside a landscape archaeologist on the first statutory AONB Management Plan that I became really fascinated with the breadth and depth of ‘landscape’ as I understand it today.

How did you train, what sort of work experience did you have?

My first job was in reclamation ecology with Operation Groundwork St Helens, followed by work with conservation charities and the London Ecology Unit. I have been AONB Director at the High Weald Unit for over 20 years, latterly as a job share which has enabled me to do other things including spend time with my kids and study for a PhD.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

Local authorities covering AONBs are required to prepare a statutory management plan every five years. The next High Weald Plan is due to be published in spring 2019 and we are drawing together our wide-ranging landscape research – from the characterisation of historic routeways to the economics of livestock farming – to prepare the first draft of the Plan.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

We have always taken a creative and multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving. We have an open-plan office and eat together at lunch. What I enjoy most is the way in which the landscape and our commitment to it, unites us and fuels new ideas and new collaborations.

How do you make your mark on the world?

Those of us who work for AONB partnerships do not tend to be out in the countryside directly managing it but without us we would see steady erosion in the character of these beautiful places.

What trends do you predict for your industry within the next few years?

Community participation in landscape planning and land management will become increasingly important. Protected landscapes will be at the forefront of biodiversity protection and a growing interest in active health and well-being, but will need to work hard with others to counter people’s increasing detachment from the land.

Why is the landscape profession so important to the future of society and the environment?

The contested meaning of the term ‘landscape’ has been seen as a weakness but its flexibility as a concept encompassing a broad range of disciplines related to the dynamic interaction between culture, nature and geography suggests that it will only become more relevant as a framework for dealing with 21st century problems.

What would you tell someone who is thinking about becoming a landscape professional?

We need you and we welcome you.