The Brecon Beacons, National Park & the Web 

This article was published in the newsletter of the Association of Countryside Voluntary Wardens Volume V1 no. 6.

If you talk to most lovers of the outdoors you would find quite a number of a Luddite persuasion. The fresh air, being at one with the elements, a canvas rucksack thirty years old and roughing it somewhat. These are the characteristics that have generally epitomised the outdoor brigade. Even as recently as ten years ago one would not have regarded outdoor activities as sitting very well with modern life and new technology. The whole mad romantic idea was to get away from it all; to recapture a time when man and nature were at one. It is difficult to say when that love of the primitive brand of a politically correct approach began to change. Possibly, the advent of Gore-Tex technology and the prospect of keeping dry (or dryer?) may have been the first irresistible carrot. Today, mobile phones, GPS systems and a whole host of designer equipment are a major topic of conversation amongst the walking boot fraternity. The latest technological innovation absorbing the attention of the press and public alike is sometimes referred to as the Internet and sometimes as the World Wide Web. So what benefits are on offer for lovers of the outdoors from this global information resource, which every world leader from Tony Blair to Bill Clinton predicts, will revolutionise the information economy?

The World Wide Web is generally accessed via a personal computer linked to a modem. Software installed on the computer allows data whether as text, image or sound to be sent via the modem and a telephone line. A server run by any one of a number of host organisations receives and relays this request. This link to a server then allows access to literally billions of pages of information stored world-wide on numerous computers and published by even more computerised individuals and organisations. Each page has a unique address and can be accessed either by entering that address or from links on other pages. Search engines are web pages into which you enter key words to help you find web sites offering information on a topic of interest. The World Wide Web is now so extensive as to offer information (admittedly of varying quality) on any subject under the sun. For the outdoor fraternity a range of companies, universities, individuals and organisations offer information and services on everything from:

• buying walking gear;

• selecting an adventure holiday;

• tourist information on world wide localities including where to stay and what to do;

• events, local news, and visitor attractions;

• web pages established by a range of outdoor organisations including, the Ramblers Association, Environment Agency, Friends of the Earth and the Youth Hostel Association

• almost any other outdoor related topic you can think of including some that we shall not mention.

The use of the Internet and access to the World Wide Web is increasing at a pace. A recent survey of Internet awareness in 22 countries co-ordinated by Bodil Jones of the International Research institute concluded that almost every adult in Northern Europe, the United States and the developed countries of Asia had heard of the Internet. This is a significant increase in awareness compared to as recently as twelve months previously. As far as access hardware is concerned one year ago, there was approximately 22,000 web servers on the Internet. Two years ago, there were approximately 5,000 web servers on the Internet. Today there are conservatively estimated to be, 145,000 web servers on the Internet. In early April 1997 Microsoft announced that it was acquiring WebTV networks Inc. for $425 million. Web TV Networks has developed a system that provides access to the Internet via your home television. (Times newspaper, Interface p.2 23/4/97 )   Microsoft strategy is to empower better PC's and better TV's. It seems likely that within a short time television mounted processors with an external infra red keyboard will allow home users to surf the web. Such terminals would make available at a relatively low cost the information available on the World Wide Web. It is predicted that World Wide Web access will double from the current 60 million in the next year. With new technology, the level of access is likely to multiply at an even faster pace. In the U.K. a recent survey found the user of the Internet is most likely to be aged between 18 and 55 and will belong to the ABC1 socio-demographic group. ( Quoted in "What's in the World Wide Web" Morton, C. "Countryside Recreation Network News" January 1997 Vol. 5 Number 1, p.4) Incidentally, the same socio-demographic grouping that a recent Brecon Beacons National Park survey identified as the main leisure visitors to the Black Mountain the foremost locality offering something akin to a wilderness experience.

The arrival of a new mass media information system has implications for the management of National Parks. The scenic beauty of National Parks tends to attract a high level of recreational use. Income from visitors is a major contributor to the local economy. Intensive visitor pressure can cause problems to the local population, can despoil the appearance of the landscape and pose a threat to the management of sensitive habitats. The dissemination of information is an essential consideration for any organisation in the 1990's. It is particularly so for an organisation with a limited budget and an area of responsibility that must cater for an almost unlimited potential user group. Information is particularly critical where increasing numbers of visitors to a limited land area are a major source of pressure on the countryside. "Sporting Chance for the Countryside", a report prepared for the Countryside Council for Wales and the Sports Council for Wales, commented on "the importance of effective information and advice to the promotion of good practice". It further stated that much "bad practice" "results from an ignorance of the facts, rather than a wilful disregard of the needs and interests of others". Activity in the countryside whether economic, informal / sporting recreation or with conservation in mind starts and ends with the behaviour of individuals. In ensuring that activity is as close to good practice as possible the "generation and dissemination of appropriate information" is widely recognised as a key objective. (Sporting chance for the Countryside" Aitcheson, J & Lloyd Jones, P. Rural Surveys Research Unit, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. p.9)

The Internet has already established itself as a vehicle for conveying information to a mass global audience. National Parks and other environmental organisations cannot afford to ignore its presence and must seize the initiative in using it as a vehicle to disseminate information appropriate to their aims and objectives. The dissemination of information via the Internet must take its place alongside Information leaflets, interpretation boards, guided walks, information and heritage centres and country parks. All serve to inform the public whilst working to protect the future of our countryside.

A recent addition to this global repository of information is a site I have established entitled "The Brecon Beacons Information Mountain Hut". As far as I can ascertain it was the first unofficial web site in the U.K. providing free of charge a range of information on a particular National Park as well as addressing wider related questions. The index page introduces the kind of information on offer at the web site. Named links that can be activated by the simple click of a mouse lead onto to other pages of related information. A list of titles of some of the existing pages can be found below and this should give an adequate indication of the range of information on offer. Each page contains information in its own right and can be reached from the index page.

In due course more web pages offering relevant information will be added. The most recent addition features articles on the management of National Parks. The first article to be made available via the web site is entitled "The Top Ten Issues in World Conservation" by Ricardo Bayon of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. One by one, it is hoped to add the walking programmes of all the ramblers groups offering routes in the wider locality of the Brecon Beacons.

The range of subjects included is in keeping with the aims and objectives of sustainable development. The web site includes pages that reflect concern for the environment. The economic needs of the Brecon Beacons locality are encompassed. The tourist information regarding opportunities for informal recreation that can be found via the web site has been selected in the hope of minimising any damaging impact on the conservation of the countryside. With such aims and objectives in mind the web site offers tourist information pages that link with opportunities to volunteer, encouraging surfers to "give as well as take" from the landscape. It seeks to touch upon local concerns and also to place them within the context of broader global economic and environmental considerations. In this respect Crickhowell’s range of excellent establishments for dining out is highlighted as well as other less well established advantages of local communities. For example, the central location of Cefn Coed and Merthyr Tydfil for touring all the attractive locales of South Wales.

Information of relevance to the local economy is linked with web pages referring to trade, to conservation and the importance of locality in the Third World. Many Brecon Beacons Volunteer Walk leaders will know Caroline Hart from her attendance on the Brecon Beacons guided walks. The Joliba page features information on the non profit making "trade not aid" West African Arts gallery Caroline established in Bristol. Since the drought of the late 1970’s, Joliba has helped promote economic independence for many village and nomadic peoples in the Sahel, or desert bordering countries of Mali and Burkina Faso including the north of Cap d'Ivoire. It is the best example I know of where trade assists local people to remain in their native locality. Local materials are given added value through the application of traditional craftsmanship. The income gained supports subsistent agriculture on which the families depend. The trade resulting promotes independence not dependence. It is worth visiting the pages to discover more about Caroline’s remarkable project that preceded many of the sustainable ideas that have gained wider recognition recently. (Joliba is currently setting up its own website and is no longer available on this website)

Increasingly travellers are turning to the World Wide Web for all kinds of travel related information such as places to visit, accommodation, even railway and bus timetables. The information whilst extensive is in many respects very patchy but improving all the time. It does strike me as crucial that those of us aware of the difficulties we face in managing the countryside and protected areas in particular establish a presence on the world wide web. The U.K. is a small country with a high population density. Visitor days to the countryside are increasing year by year and decade by decade as the 1994 National Park visitor survey concluded. Visitors to the countryside need to be well informed not only of the opportunities to enjoy but the need to respect and care for the environment. With this in mind the information on offer via the World Wide Web needs to offer quality information and guidance as would a leaflet in an information centre or a well led guided walk.

This is one hi tech sector of the economy where small local companies can still compete on price, service and quality with the large multinationals. The direct purchase of quality components though not a "well known brand name product" secures a competitive edge. Locally available expertise is the best form of added value for the computer novice. If you are tempted by this article to surf the web then before committing yourself to a significant level of expenditure try it out first at a cyber café near to you. For the uninitiated in computer language, you need to be thinking in terms of a computer offering the following specification as a minimum operational requirement. Do seek additional advice and shop around before buying. If you get chance to visit the web site then I hope you find it worthwhile. If you have a relevant article you would like published and theoretically accessible to 60 million people world-wide (and likely to double within one year) then send it to me (floppy disk only, I can’t type) via the Warden’s office. May I wish you happy surfing but even happier walking!

Keith Rapado

• Pentium type processor ; 3 Mb hard drive, 15" SVGA monitor, 32mb ram, 256 k cache, 56k V90 modem, 32 speed CD-ROM drive, floppy disk, Cost around a £1000. Do take further advice and shop around !

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