Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This is a mixed method data collection. The study is part of the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. The uplands supply a wide range of ecosystem services and are home to many high conservation-value species and habitats. Striking a balance between these various demands and providing rural communities with sustainable livelihoods requires a secure understanding of how these ecosystems function and respond to change. This project demonstrated that understanding people-landscape interactions over the past 300-500 years is vital to the creation of sustainable management plans. This was achieved by combining environmental archaeology/history techniques for understanding past environmental and land-use changes, with social science methods of engagement and evaluation to bring these long timescale narratives into planning frameworks. The main objective of the project was to explore how longer-term (>decadal) evidence can be incorporated into decision-making in the UK uplands to ensure that we use the benefits of hindsight. The broader aim was to ensure that short-term monitoring systems and goals will support the longer-term processes that underpin ecosystem function and values. As it is difficult to put monetary values on heritage, biodiversity or knowledge, interview techniques developed by economists were used to assess how information from the past influences people's values regarding landscape change, particularly relative to current management strategies. The work focused on heathland, which is the most extensive UK upland habitat, and was conducted in the Peak District (England) and Sutherland (Northern Scotland). This data collection includes the results from four interlinked projects combining quantitative and qualitative evidence to assess long-term ecological data at local to national levels: Project 1 synthesises existing information on historical environmental changes in the...