ABSTRACT
Many people share D. A. Ratcliffe's fascination with the 'natural world'; and the strength of opinion is such that concerted efforts are being made to ensure that ecological factors are taken into account when planning future environmental and land-use changes. The programme co-ordinated by the Nature Conservancy Council, and applicable to Great Britain, has been reviewed by Ratcliffe. Geographical contributions have in general been geared at regional, national and international scales of resource systems, rather than at the scale at which individual resource users operate. The background to the period of concern over resource management is a history of changing perceptions on resource availability and of fluctuating demand for resources. Ecological and environmental consideration would then become an input into the planning process, to be weighed alongside social and economic considerations. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
