NATURE CONSERVATION AND THE VOLUNTARY PRINCIPLE

Primary legislation in Britain has enshrined the 'voluntary principle' at the centre of the working relationship between nature conservation ists and other land-users. This paper examines the dilemma that arises from the application of the legislation to long-term land management strategies in support of nature conservation. In its historical contex t this approach does not sit easily with wider goals such as the land- use ethic of Aldo Leopold or the search for an ethic of sustainability .