A Nature Reserve Management Plan for the Island of Rhum, Inner Hebrides

Abstract

Planning is essential in any long-term operation. This was appreciated many years ago in one particular branch of conservation-forestry. Trees are long-lived, with the harvest often not within a man's life-time, so that responsibility for operations in the forest may have to pass through many hands before the crop is gathered. In such situations there is a clear need to record in detail-for the benefit of those who come after, as well as for those who are immediately engaged-all that is known about an area and what is proposed for it, to set out the aims of management and the methods by which they are to be achieved, to note any lessons learned, and to supply a comprehensive set of instructions covering the work to be carried out during a specific period. This information is set out by foresters in logical sequence in a Forest Working Plan. Suitably modified, the same concept can be applied to ensure continuity of management-and of research-in the conservation and management of any other natural resource. The Nature Conservancy is required by its Charter to establish, maintain and manage nature reserves. It must also provide scientific advice on the conservation and control of natural flora and fauna, and organize and develop research services to make these things possible. Obviously, the management of a nature reserve-and the research on wildlife populations which is essential to ensure success-is just as long-term as is the management of a forest. It can, moreover, be distinctly more complex; forest, moorland, water and wildlife management may all be involved within a single nature reserve, whilst at the same time both fundamental and applied research, as well as day-to-day estate management, will be in progress. For the adequate control of all this, a detailed operational plan is essential: it must ensure, inter alia, that the desired goals are kept continuously in sight (and that the scientific team is prevented from straying too far from the routes which lead to them), that the supporting services are co-ordinated, and that the plan's provisions are sufficiently flexible to be capable of adjustment to the requirements of changing conditions. The standard layout of these Reserve Management Plans is the result of trial and error: it is based essentially on the headings for forest working plans suggested by Bourne (1934), the choice, sequence and coverage of which are discussed fully by Brasnett (1953). The adoption of a standard layout is desirable not only because it ensures that during compilation of the plan nothing of relevance is omitted but also because reference between plans is easier if subjects are always treated in the same order. Absolute adherence to recommended headings is not essential: no two areas are identical and a simpler situation will require a simpler plan than one which is complicated. If a heading does not apply it is omitted. Plans fall into three parts. The first, descriptive section details the factors of the locality (Facts on which the prescriptions are based); the second, Objectives, sets out the objects of management; the third, prescriptive portion contains the Proposals for future management. The latter provides, on the basis of what is known about the reserve, a 5-year programme of operations directed at the long-term attainment of the