ON UNEVEN GROUND The Multiple and Contested Nature(s) of Environmental Restoration Laura Smith Cardiff School of City and Regional Planning Cardiff University PhD Thesis 2009 UMI Number: U584441 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U584441 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed...................................... (candidate) Date .. 22 . £.993... STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed...................................... (candidate) Date ..}. ?. STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. Signed...................................... (candidate) Date .. A?, . ?.? ?. ?.. STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed.......................................... (candidate) Date . .f.2: STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Graduate Development Committee. Signed......................................... (candidate) Date fehW..?.*??.?... Summary SUMMARY Environmental restoration is emerging as a major driver in the repair and reversal of some of the world’s most severely degraded landscape systems, with growing interest in the status and composition of restoration efforts. Although much has already been written about the theory and practice of environmental restoration, both positive and negative, hitherto the literature has tended to overlook the complexity bound up in defining restoration discourses, and perhaps more importantly, the physical, material consequences instilled through such human choice. The mutability of discourses of environmental restoration means that it can be moulded and (re-)shaped by different actors and contexts, with different values and meanings attached to ‘nature’. There exist multiple and contested natures of environmental restoration - nature(s) both in the sense of the properties of restoration, and also that which is restored to a site. In this doctoral thesis, I demonstrate how discourses of environmental restoration are defined and interpreted, which discourses (if any) appear to dominate, and how these are mobilised to produce ‘restored nature’. Attention is also awarded to the environmental implications incurred when such discourses are played out on the ground. The research is grounded empirically through reference to the case studies of the Eden Project (Cornwall, UK), the National Forest Company (Derbyshire, UK), and the Walden Woods Project (Lincoln, MA) and their adoption of restoration practices. Analysing the processes and practices of environmental restoration within a framework of social nature and cultural landscapes serves to destabilise the dualism distancing nature from society - a preserve of environmental ethics and philosophy - for such synergy not only highlights how ideas of (restored) nature are socially constructed, but also addresses the material production of nature, reinforcing the interactions between natural and societal actors. Keywords| environmental restoration; nature; social nature; lexicology; the value of nature; environmental ethics; landscape integrity; manipulation and intervention. On Uneven Ground: i The Multiple and Contested Nature(s) of Environmental Restoration Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For Mum and Dad; and Emma, and Mark. With thanks to my supervisors, Professor Paul Milboume and Dr Richard Cowell, alongside Dr Jon Anderson, for their enthusiasm, advice and belief in the significance of this research. With thanks also to the staff of my case study projects, particularly Dr Tony Kendle at the Eden Project, Clive Keble at the National Forest Company, and Matt Bume at the Walden Woods Project; the staff of the many other organisations mentioned throughout this thesis; and individual commentators, all of whom provided invaluable assistance and support. I mention also colleagues and friends - especially Jodie Underhay and Christine Mady - who have been patient and willing to listen attentively to my musings on all things restoration, even stretching to proof-reading. On Uneven Ground: ii The Multiple and Contested Nature(s) of Environmental Restoration Contents CONTENTS List of Figures vi List of Tables viii Abbreviations ix Chapter One The Shifting Sands of Restoration Discourses 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 The Contours of the Environmental Restoration Debate 2 1.3 Spotlighting the Nature(s) of Restoration 4 1.3.1 The Research Issue 4 1.3.2 Research Questions and Structure 7 1.4 Outline of the Thesis 9 Chapter Two Restoration, Nature and Artifice: A Literature Review 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 The Contested Issue of‘Naturalness’ 12 2.2.1 The Language and Semantics of Nature 12 2.2.2 Social Nature: Cultural Constructs and the Production of Nature 19 2.3 Philosophies of Value in Restoration Discourses 35 2.3.1 The Value of Nature 35 2.3.2 The Moral Implications of Environmental Restoration 38 2.4 The Management and Practice of Environmental Restoration 51 2.5 Conclusions 61 Chapter Three Research Design and Methodology 63 3.1 Detailing the Research Issue 63 3.1.1 Revisiting the Research Problem 63 3.1.2 Relationship to Existing Research 64 3.2 The Research Design 64 3.2.1 A Case Study Approach 64 3.2.2 Epistemology: Foundation and Perspective 68 3.2.3 The Research Methodology 71 3.2.4 Ethical Considerations 80 On Uneven Ground: iii The Multiple and Contested Nature(s) of Environmental Restoration Contents 3.2.5 Reflexivity 82 3.3 Data Analysis and Interpretation 83 3.3.1 The Application of a Discourse (and Content) Analysis 83 3.3.2 Qualitative Data Analysis and NVivo 7 86 Chapter Four Context: A Massachusetts Pond, a Cornish China Clay Pit, and an English Midlands Forest 90 4.1 Introduction 90 4.2 The Walden Woods Project | Lincoln, Massachusetts 90 4.3 The Eden Project | St Austell, Cornwall 94 4.4 The National Forest Company | Moira, Derbyshire 97 Chapter Five The Socio-Natural Constituents of Restoration 100 5.1 Introduction 100 5.2 The Context-Embeddedness Inherent in Restoration 101 5.3 Landscape Quality and the Integrity of the Landscape 104 5.4 The Politics of Local Planning 112 5.5 The Integration of Social Nature into Project Practices 118 5.6 Conclusions 127 Chapter Six Interpreting the Landscape Aesthetic: The Lexicology of Environmental Restoration 128 6.1 Introduction 128 6.2 The Lexicology of Environmental Restoration 129 6.2.1 Understanding Internal Constructions of Dominant Discourses 129 6.2.2 Approaching Environmental Issues 142 6.2.3 Mobilising Environmental Restoration Discourses 150 6.2.4 Manipulation, Intervention, and the Need for Restoration 169 6.3 Environmental Meanings and the Value of Nature 175 6.3.1 Exploring the Landscape Condition 175 6.3.2 The Valuation of Nature in Restoration Practices 191 6.4 Conclusions 195 Chapter Seven The Unfolding Politics and Power of Restoration Discourses 197 7.1 Introduction 197 7.2 The Implications for Restoration Policy Discourses 198 7.2.1 Policy, Politics, Advocacy and Plans fo r the Future 198 7.2.2 Seeing the Wood Alongside the Trees: Influences of the Global-Local 203 7.3 Transferring and Disseminating Environmental Meaning 216 7 . 3.1 The Multitude and Extent of Project Networks and Collaborations 216 7.3.2 Processes of Knowledge Transfer and Dissemination 224 7.3.3 The Politics of Restored Space: Symbols, Icons, and the ‘Unique ’ 230 7.4 Conclusions 237 On Uneven Ground: iv The Multiple and Contested Nature(s) of Environmental Restoration Contents Chapter Eight Revisiting the Shifting Sands: A Summary of Results and Conclusions 239 8.1 Introduction 239 8.2 The Intricacies of Environmental Restoration 240 8.2.1 Typologies of Restoration 240 8.2.2 The Geographies of Environmental Restoration 251 8.2.3 Moving Beyond Pandora’s Box to see Restoration as Redemption 261 8.3 New Research Agendas 262 APPENDICES Appendix 1 Glossary of Second-Tier Case Studies 265 Appendix 2A Project-wide Interview Schedule 269 Appendix 2B Project Networks Interview Schedule 271 Appendix 3 List of Interview Respondents 273 Appendix 4 Objectives of the Research Design 275 Appendix 5 Connecting Ideas in NVivo 277 Appendix 6 Environmental Education Programmes 279 BIBLIOGRAPHY 283 On Uneven Ground: v The Multiple and Contested Nature(s) of Environmental Restoration List of Figures LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 The location and boundary of Walden Woods 91 Figure 4.2 The Walden Woods conservation context 93 Figure 4.3 The location and landscape of the Eden Project