Looking after the environment!

The Forestry Commission manages nearly 900,000 hectares of forest in Britain. Its main purpose is timber production, although it also tries to develop its forests for recreation by the general public.

In many parts of upland Britain the Forestry Commission planted dense squares of. evergreen trees which did not fit in with the irregular native woods, but modern state-run forests are planted with more thought for their effect on the environment.

Durdle Door, Dorset

The National Trust was set up in 1895. It is a voluntary society with a million and a half members and it now owns more than 200,000 hectares, particularly in the Lake District and North Wales. It has 190 houses open to the public, 51 villages, 38 pubs and nearly 12,000 farms. Durdle Door, on the Dorset Coastal Path, is part of its Enterprise Neptune scheme, which protects 800 km of coast.

The North Sea is in danger of becoming poisoned to death. More than 70 million tonnes of industrial waste are dumped into it each year. If river pollution is included, at least 50,000 different chemicals get into the North Sea, including heavy metals like

North Sea pollution

mercury, lead and arsenic, highly poisonous chlorinated compounds and fertilisers which can kill fish and make shellfish unsafe to eat.

Until the 1960s, mining waste in the coalfields was left on the surface in ugly heaps. These are now landscaped and grassed over to provide a safer and cleaner environment.

The disposal of nuclear and other dangerous waste continues to be a problem as available land decreases. It is estimated that an area of countryside the size of London disappears into urban, industrial and recreational use every twelve years.

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT S 57

Trees affected by acid rain Industries can be developed on new sites with more care for the surroundings than before. However, development often means the destruction of the natural habitat of rare plants and insects. A European Community directive has called for a 40 per cent cut in nitrogen oxide emissions by 1995. Meanwhile, the British government has refused to be committed to an intermediate goal of 30 per cent cuts by 1993, despite the fact that they acknowledge that power stations in the United Kingdom are responsible for causing acid rain not only in Britain but elsewhere in Europe. Greenpeace, the environmental action group, calculate that more than 450 million of Britain's trees are affected by acid rain.

Comprehension

Use the information on these two pages to answer the questions.

1 Which pictures illustrate
threats to the environment?

2 Which pictures illustrate
improvements to the
environment?

3 Which of the concerns in
the questionnaire are not
illustrated or mentioned in
the text?

4 List the five threats to the
environment which people
are most worried about,
according to the
questionnaire.

Discussion Work in pairs.

1 Make your own
questionnaire on the
environment.

2 Collect the opinions of the
rest of the class and report
on your findings.

58 BRITAIN EXPLORED

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1613

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