Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Tables, Figures and Boxes -- List of Contributors -- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations -- Preface -- 1 Then and Now: Planning for Countryside Conservation -- Introduction -- Defining countryside conservation and planning -- Then: a lasting legacy -- Now: a new era? -- An outline -- Part 1 The International Context for Countryside Planning and Management -- 2 From Sandy to Rio: The Development of Biodiversity Action Planning -- The road to Rio -- The road from Rio -- Re-framing the agenda -- Conclusions -- 3 European Frameworks for Nature Conservation: The Case of the Birds and Habitats Directives -- The birds and habitats directives -- Delivery mechanisms -- Impact on the British planning system and wider countryside policy frameworks -- The changing context -- Conclusions -- 4 Our Landscape from a Wider Perspective -- Landscape - an elusive concept for international policy -- Cultural landscapes and the world heritage convention -- Protected landscapes -- European landscape convention -- Recent developments in the European Union -- The implications for the UK -- 5 Policy Context for Community Involvement in Countryside Planning -- Global and European drivers towards sustainable development, human rights and environmental policy -- The UK response -- Conclusions -- Part 2 New Concepts and Tools -- 6 The Natural Area Experience -- New solutions to old problems -- New needs and drivers -- Developing the framework -- Natural areas in practice -- Where next? -- Conclusions -- 7 The Assessment of Countryside and Landscape Character in England: An Overview -- The evolution of countryside and landscape character assessment -- Making judgements based on countryside and landscape character -- Practical applications of landscape character assessment -- Current and future issues.

8 Policies and Priorities for Ireland's Landscapes -- The heritage council -- The first steps -- The pilot landscape characterization - County Clare -- The next steps -- Conclusions -- 9 Development and Application of Landscape Assessment Guidelines in Ireland: Case Studies using Forestry and Wind Farm Developments -- Irish landscape assessment guidelines -- Case study 1: landscape assessment in the planning and design of forestry -- Case study 2: landscape assessment in the planning and design of wind farms -- Conclusions -- 10 Historic Landscape Characterization -- Background -- Historic landscape characterization -- The application of HLC -- Conclusions -- 11 Connecting the Pieces: Scotland's Integrated Approach to the Natural Heritage -- The overall philosophy -- Basic structure of approach -- What are the benefits - actual and expected? -- Conclusions -- 12 LANDMAP : A Tool to Aid Sustainable Development -- Organizational change -- How the method was developed -- The LANDMAP -- Where next - towards sustainability? -- Part 3 From Theory to Practice -- 13 Applications of Landscape Character Assessment -- Range of applications -- Character assessment and planning -- Character assessment and land management -- Character assessment and other strategic initiatives -- Towards good practice -- 14 The Link Between Landscape, Biodiversity and Development Plans: A Move Towards 'Positive Planning'? -- The policy context for positive planning -- Research method -- Development of Regulation 37 policies -- Policies promoting/enhancing biodiversity -- Implementing positive planning policies -- Conclusions -- 15 A New Way of Valuing Land in the Countryside: Are We Lost Without a Map? -- Links to the statutory land use planning system -- Effectiveness of the new approaches -- Community involvement -- Conclusions.

16 Community Involvement in Countryside Planning in Practice -- Frameworks for analysing levels of community involvement -- Examples of community involvement in countryside planning -- Overall strands and themes -- Conclusions -- Index.