NATURE CONSERVATION : ESSEX
97
One of the main problems is that of caravan and chalet
development along the coastline—not a problem peculiar to Essex,
but one which in this county is a particularly difficult one because
of the close proximity of London (from which tens of thousands
want to get away for a day, a week-end or longer) and of the
comparatively few stretches of our coastline that are reasonably
accessible. The policy in Lincolnshire is to set the caravans in
depth rather than straggling along the coast and this is not such
a set-back to the dwellers, the majority of whom own cars and
can reach the coast in a very short while.
The pillaging of the countryside by trippers, so-called gypsies
and others is another problem which is also acute in Essex
because of its nearness to London and a dense system of highways
and byways. A Kent spokesman at the 1962 County Naturalists'
Trusts' Conference raised this particular point and felt that the cure
was in a two-fold attack: education and legislation. Education,
he thought, must come first. The various trusts must set them-
selves real targets. They must get into the schools and teach the
children the need of looking after the countryside. They must
teach the teachers, too. They must publish articles in local and
national newspapers. They must hold public meetings. They
must keep hammering away to show the people the folly of their
ways and to point out that if the present trend is not stopped,
there will be no flowers for our children, much less for our
children's children, to see. He concluded, "Unfortunately, you
can never educate everybody and, regretfully, there are always
some who will not learn. For them, the big stick of legislation is
necessary".
One of the principal problems in the management of many
nature reserves is how to reconcile public access with conservation.
Certainly, if the conservation programme is to make progress, the
support and goodwill of the public must be forthcoming, but this
is not likely to be the case if access to reserves is barred. The
Lincolnshire Naturalists' Trust, a pioneer in so many aspects of
conservation, has placed a number of pictorial notice-boards at
its Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve which warn of the dangers of
trampling on eggs of shore-nesting birds, of uncontrolled dogs and
of the starting of fires. At this particular reserve, a public car
park and an information office are also provided.
The use of reserves by schools needs very careful control if the
wildlife is not to be endangered, particularly if collecting is to be
permitted. Information must be provided on the reserve itself
for the use of visiting schools and the use of 'nature trails' may
well prove a useful feature. Trusts will have to work out means
of providing advisory services to schools as part of their con-
servation policy.
Not the least of any Trust's future problems is the creation of
well-informed and influential opinion in favour of nature conserva-
tion—not only by a large membership but also with good relations
with landowners, farmers, foresters, local authorities and other