Sheep farming is integral to the Lake District’s heritage

The public can trust sheep farmers to continue to manage the landscape sensitively, writes Phil Stocker

Your piece (Conservationists call for Lake District to lose Unesco world heritage status, 7 June) quotes campaigners who criticise sheep farming in this most revered area of Britain. The Lake District is a national park, with protected and designated sites of special scientific interest.

The fact that sheep farming and hefted livestock grazing has been core to its management for over 3,000 years suggests it has created something of value. How ironic that rather than celebrate (and further fine-tune) its farmers and graziers, and the surrounding rural infrastructure that depends on this primary activity, ecologists want to see sheep farming’s demise.

Given the right policy framework  and the public being prepared to support local food producers, the Lake District’s farmers will be able to continue to adapt and deliver what it wants – the enhancement of natural resources, a nature-rich countryside, and a vibrant society with cultural heritage and a contribution to food security. That surely is what conservation should be about – a recognition of the whole, and not just singular outcomes.

Finally, while sheep farming enterprises in these harsh regions may be financially marginal, if they are considered within an economy where money is recirculated locally, creating jobs and enterprise and supporting a rural community, then they’re not such poor performers.

Public support helps farmers to do more for nature and protect water and other resources. Farmers want to continue looking after the land they have farmed for centuries, ensuring public access, balancing farming with nature, and managing the landscape in a viable way for future generations.
Phil Stocker
Chief executive, National Sheep Association

Cover photo:  Sheep grazing in the Wasdale valley, Lake District. ‘How ironic that rather than celebrate its farmers and graziers … ecologists want to see sheep farming’s demise.’ Photograph: Horst Friedrichs/Alamy