1st October 1997 - 30th September 2001
School of Geography Studentship
Due to the fact that human intervention has had a huge impact on the natural environment, it is becoming increasingly important to know how much land remains wild or has some kind of wilderness value. This research illustrates the potential of GIS for mapping wild land values on a range of scales from local to national to european. Wilderness is a subjective concept and therefore this research aims to account for the subjective nature of wild land by mapping different people's perception of wild land. Wild land is mapped as a contiuum ranging from build up to more 'wild' environments within the UK and Scotland. Local case study areas are the Cairngorms, Letterewe/Fisherfield and Knoydart in Scotland.The modelling approach developed for the UK and Scotland is scaled up and reapplied at a European level.