Commons and Communal
Lands Unit (CCLU)

Background

The Commons and Communal Lands Unit (CCLU) is a new venture of ICPL, which it is hoped will have local, national and global interest. This Unit will deal with issues relating to common lands in the UK context, and from a more global perspective, with the management of common resources and communal lands.

In the UK context, the interest stems largely from research that Professor John Aitchison of ICPL directed at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth over a number of years. This extensive research programme addressed the biodiversity and management of the common lands of England and Wales.

In England and Wales, the term "common land" has a very specific meaning, and is embedded in ancient legislation. It refers to land, owned by individuals or organisations, over which other specified parties (usually properties rather than people) have registered rights of usage (they may be grazing rights, mineral rights, rights to take wood, bracken or rushes etc). These rights are inalienable and the owner(s) can do nothing that impinges upon them. The system is a vestige of the manorial social/agricultural system of Mediaeval times, yet it still embraces considerable areas of land, especially in the uplands, where it remains an integral part of the livestock farming system. In Wales, some 12% of the country's land area (175,000ha) is common land, while in England 3% of the land (396,800) has this status. The legal framework governing the commons ensures tight control over their use and effectively offers them a very high level of protection from enclosure and development. Indeed, the open moorland and mountain landscapes that are the raison d'etre of many of the national parks of England and Wales, largely owe their survival to this system of land use.

Both the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales (above left), and Dartmoor National Park in south-west England (above right), owe the maintenance of their open moorland and mountain landscapes - and the survival of their traditional farming practices - to their common lands.

However, much debate surrounds the role of the commons of England and Wales within a modern agricultural system, and issues such as public access to open country and 'favourable conservation status' are currently of great public and political interest. The Commons Act of 2006, which received Royal Assent on July 20th 2006, is Government's response to the longstanding call from many interests groups to legislate for more appropriate and effective management of the commons. Through CCLU, ICPL is in a position to offer a centre of expertise and information dissemination on this topic.

In the more global context, of course, "commons and communal lands" have a far wider meaning than they do in the UK, and comprise immensely important systems from both the biodiversity and community welfare perspectives. From the pastoralist systems of East Africa to the hunter/gatherer communities of Papua New Guinea, or the nomadic Saami culture of Scandinavia, they are inextricably interwoven with the ecosystems on which they depend. While these cultures have contributed in no small way to the maintenance of a rich biodiversity, in many cases their future survival and welfare rely heavily on the appropriate management of protected areas and the recognition of the rights and responsibilities of the indigenous peoples in relation to those areas. CCLU will therefore also seek to address these fundamental and critical concerns.

The pastoralist systems of the Maasai people of East Africa have historically contributed greatly to the maintenance of open landscapes and the conservation of wildlife. Government efforts to exclude them from their traditional lands following the gazettement of protected areas, have often been counterproductive and have resulted in the demise of both culture and conservation.