About Us

Our history

During the mid to late 1980’s greater awareness developed of the need to actively manage heathland in order to maintain and enhance its value both as a landscape and as a habitat with a distinct ecology and wildlife.

Taking a more scientific approach to heathland management was greatly encouraged by the work of such eminent contributors as Professor Gimingham, Professor Nigel Webb and Dr Feiko Prins, who all played a part in early conferences.

The advent of funding to undertake heathland management, particularly scrub clearance, further encouraged landowners to take a more active approach rather than accepting continued loss of heathland to poor quality secondary woodland or indeed development. Much of the heathland in the south of England is owned by local authorities, who began to recognise the importance of what they held, not just as a recreational area to be abused at will, but as valuable natural heritage.

There are references to the first National Heathland Conference taking place in Suffolk during 1988 and a further pivotal meeting at Swanage in Dorset in 1990. As yet we’re not in possession of any proceedings for these two meetings but it’s our intention that this website publishes links to, or copies of, all available previous proceedings.

You make ask why this gathering and disseminating of older proceedings is important; well the proceedings already available give a snapshot as to the key concerns in heathland management at the time. It gives some appreciation to heathland managers that they are part of a long line of people who are clearly capable of moving the cause of conservation forward.