A cultural view on European heathlands

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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 34 A CULTURAL VIEW ON EUROPEAN HEATHLANDS

HERBERT DIEMONT & JAN JANSEN Early in the twentieth Century, heathlands were viewed as a natural Vegetation which would not support trees because of their poor soil conditions. Although any trees in a heathland may be stunted for many decades, they do invade these habitats in the absence of agricultural, or heathland management. Heathlands in Atlantic Europe are accepted as cultural landscapes that reflect the influence of farming over a thousand years. Natural heaths are the exception and they are found along wind exposed coasts and above the tree line of mountains.

Heathlands had their largest expansion when they covered at least three, or may be five, million hectares. It was considered an achievement that most of these heathlands became more productive agricultural/forested lands. Only 300 to 500 thousand hectares are 'left' in Europe, or 'waste' if heathlands are considered to be waste land!

Afforestation of heathlands and conversion to arable land already started in the second half of the nineteenth Century. Conversion of heathlands became possible when large scale drainage became possible, probably well before fertilizer became available. Even in most countries, where heathlands have become protected 'nature', heathland areas became smaller and smaller. The latter is somewhat embarrassing for nature conservationists who try to keep the heathlands and certainly do not consider heathlands to be waste land.

Biodiversity is rather a weak value, or function of a heathland to win political support for its management. This is probably a reason that heathlands under conservation still change spontaneously to forest. Another reason may be that management is not 'natural' and should be avoided as much as possible.

In our view heathlands should be considered as part of the European cultural heritage. In this respect, it is Prof. Peter Kaland from Norway who considers heathland the Atlantic Cultural Landscape of Europe. The Atlantic Cultural Landscape has not only a past, but probably also a future in Europe. In some countries, like Portugal and Scotland, the heathlands are still part of their agricultural systems. In other countries, such as the Netherlands, farmers are again back in the heathlands, combining cattle rearing and nature conservation.

It is the purpose of this paper to highlight the diversity of agronomic systems in the European heathlands, a cultural landscape which should be considered as part of the European cultural heritage and which is still valuable land, even for farmers, both now and in the future.

Extensive and intensive farming systems What kind of farming systems can there be encountered in Atlantic cultural landscapes of Europe?

Soil scientists consider the soil quality a key factor, drainage engineers will identify water management as a crucial factor, whereas economists will regard cost/benefit ratios essential.

Probably the most important Single factor is indeed the cost/benefit ratios.

If prices are good, we may even grow bananas on the moon. Even in the Middle Ages farmers had the technology to obtain high yields, if the price on the market was good (this seems a bit odd for we learned in school that only

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HEATHLAND - A WASTE OF SPACE?

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after fertilizers became available around 1900, could yields increase).

Transport costs were low near towns, therefore it was possible to invest more labour per hectare. As a result it is always found that the most intensive use of the land takes place near towns.

The Van ThĂźnen 'Standort' model implies that cattle raising is an extensive form of land use which is far from the cities. The more intensive activities, like the production of rye, takes place nearer to them. This model explains why, for instance, the remote heathlands of Denmark in the 16th and 17th centuries were the most important cattle rearing areas in Europe with cattle being exported to the populated parts like Holland and parts of Germany. Even in the northern part of Holland (Drenthe Province), cattle breeding was a major activity in that period. The Drenthe case is interesting as it shows that with an increase in the population of an area, extensive areas become more intensively farmed.

The following is a summary of a case study reported by Bieleman (1987).

He describes how the more extensive system of cattle breeding in Drenthe province changed into a more intensive agricultural system. It focused on the production of rye with manure from the cattle and sheep in the first place used for fertilizing the arable land. Reasons for intensification were a combination of cheap grain from the Baltics and a lower demand for meat from the cities forced farmers to intensify and produce grain. So the Von ThĂźnen circles from extensive to intensive land use were subject to change in time.

A typical form of heathland management practised in Holland, Belgium and parts of Germany (possibly also in the south and east of England), involved the cutting of sods to mix with sheep manure. The 'plaggen' manure so formed was a valuable addition to the reserves of manures used to enrich arable land.

Plaggen manure made it possible to produce more manure and increase rye production, but at the cost of more labour which was cheap at the time that the population increased significantly. Another factor which promoted sheep grazing and therefore increased the production of manure, was drainage. It is now accepted that the major change in the height of plaggen soils ('essen') was due to the use of plaggen manure in Holland which started after 1700. This very labour intensive practice (50% of the total labour to grow a crop of rye) was probably only possible due to the cheap labour of the time. To manure 1 hectares of arable land with plaggen manure at least 10 hectares of heath must be available, as was the case in Drenthe.

Going to the South-east of the Netherlands in the province of Brabant, near the city of Antwerp, the intensity of agriculture was even higher as a result of important harbours in the vicinity. This was the Flemish agriculture which was no longer based upon the fertility of the heathlands, i.e. plaggen manure alone.

In fact, only 3 hectares of heath were available for each hectare of arable land.

Cattle were kept here in stables all year long. Additional material, such as night soil, was brought into the cities to provide enough manure. This was a system with a laborious crop rotation.

Grass and Irrigation It is sometimes thought that sheep and cattle can survive on heather. Similarly, frozen buffalo and mammoth found in the Arctic were thought to have lived on

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tundra, but sheep, cattle and buffalo alike need grass (Guthrie in his book Frozen fauna of the Mammoth Steppe). Sheep and cattle play a role in both intensively and extensively managed heathlands. In extensive systems the farmer's income come from rearing cattle or sheep, whereas in a more intensive system the major role is the production of manure to fertilize the arable land. Heathlands are important for grazing providing edible material in winter and early spring, but it is clear that cattle and sheep cannot survive on dwarf shrubs only and grasses are needed during their lactation periods (this has been conclusively shown by workers in the former Hill Farming Institute in Scotland). The value of high quality meadows in heathland areas was therefore very valuable.

In many heathland areas in Holland, Germany and Portugal, irrigated meadows are, indeed, part of the Atlantic Cultural Landscape. In Germany and Holland the former agricultural practices have not only raised part of the landscape as a result of plaggen manure, but they have also broadened the Valleys by increasing the area of irrigated meadows. In Portugal canals can be observed to have been built parallel to brooks and irrigated, terraced meadows are a common feature.

Grass and Heathland Management Heathlands may be managed by sheep and cattle, or by cutting, rotational fires and sod cutting. The main issue in heathlands is that rotational management is needed and in general a rotation period of 10 years is recommended. In many heathlands the management is too extensive, but at least 5% of heath should be managed annually. If the management pressure is too low grasses like Purple Moor-grass, Molinia caerulea take over, or trees invade a heathland.

Conclusion The intensity of agricultural use of the European heathlands was primarily based upon their proximity to markets, indicating their part in a market economy.

In the most remote areas (200 km and more from a market), extensive cattle breeding was a dominant land use, toward the market this was progressively followed by three yearly cropping, biennially cropped grass/arable, annually cropped arable, intensively cropped arable land systems and intensive husbandry with horticultural systems near the market itself.

These different agro-economic systems can still be recognised and form the Atlantic cultural landscapes in Europe. In some parts of Europe, such as Portugal, traditional agriculture is still practised. In other parts, the old farming practices and the modern gain new futures in heathlands. Management of these cultural landscapes might again be based upon the traditional linkages between irrigated meadows, heathland and, in some areas, raised arable land.

(Text prepared by Eric Parsons from notes by the Speaker and a recording made at the conference) H. Diemont & J. Jansen DLO Institute for Forestry & Nature Research PO Box 23 N-L 6700, AA Wageningen NETHERLANDS Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 34 (1998)