How natural is a nature reserve?: an ideological study of British nature conservation landscapes

Areas set apart for nature conservation in Britain are broadly categorised according to their cultural purpose, and names are assigned to these in this paper. Nature reserves may be similar to zoos and botanic gardens in aiming to maintain the diversity of species and if so are termed 'biodiversity reserves'. This tradition understands nature as a static collection of entities apart from humans. Maintaining traditional management at a site is arguably a good way to sustain species, it also retains old ways in which humans and nature were integrated in the life of the nation and so are called 'historic countryside parks'. There is growing interest in 'wilderness areas', where nature is seen as primarily processes protected from human interference. Despite the strength of each of these, they suffer from attempting to restrict nature to a ghetto, a process that is economically and environmentally costly. 'Companion places' are places which set sustainable examples of integrating human life and economic activity with maintaining biodiversity and offering an opportunity to encounter wild processes at the heart of life. The language of these four types, or vectors, of nature reserves is offered to help the discussion of our place in nature.