It is easy for conservationists to understand how to maintain
pristine habitats such as the Antarctic; they just need to be
left undisturbed. But conservationsists rarely deal with such
habitats. Most woods, meadows, fens, bodies of water or heaths
have been much influenced by people. Simply leaving such
habitats alone is rarely the best approach. These semi-natural
communities often require careful management - but is often not
obvious which polices are best. An understanding of the history
of a habitat can give us enormous insight into its requirements,
and help to settle disputes among conservationists about how it
should be treated. As an example of the importance of this
historical knowledge, we take the Breckland heaths in East
Anglia. Lowland heath is an internationally threatened habitat
and England contains a significant fraction of the heathland
left in the world. One of the most famous examples of heath in
Britain is ... To continue reading this article, subscribe to
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