"Our wonderful native land" ("Vårt härliga fädernesland") About the Swedish Tourist Association and national mobilization

Transcription

1 The Right of Public Access in Sweden. A History of Modernization and a Landscape Perspective. Klas Sandell Research Unit for Tourism and Leisure, Department of Geography and Tourism, Karlstad University The Evolvement of the Right of Public Access A brief remark about the modernization process and the evolvement of out-of-doors and nature-tourism... Therafter: About Public Access in Practice: Some themes among the early recreationists "Our wonderful native land" ("Vårt härliga fädernesland") About the Swedish Tourist Association and national mobilization "Through the railroad" ("Genom öppnandet af järnvägen") About transports and infrastructure "The right to roam" ("Färdselrätten") About that the basic right of public access goes without saying "The need of lodging" ("Kvartersväsendet") About food och accommodation "Plain and simple establishments" ("Mindre, enkla anläggningar") About a well-balanced accessibility Some Characteristics of the Current Right of Public Access The "allemansrätt" (the Public Right of Access to the Countryside), which means that everyone has the right, within certain restrictions, to move freely across private land holdings, pick mushrooms, flowers and berries etc., is a basic element in the Nordic outdoor tradition. Also to some extent it seems reasonable to see the tradition as a means of recognising and supporting the needs and interests of the landless. The survival of this right up to the present day is probably largely attributable to the fact that Sweden has a sparse population. Also, the tradition of freedom for the farmers and the Germanic tradition of legislation (as opposed to the Roman) have been raised in support of the current position of the right of public access in the Nordic countries... In summary, the right of public access in Sweden is in common law and can be seen as the "free space" between various restrictions, mainly: (i) economic interests; (ii) people's privacy; (iii) preservation; and (iv) the utilisation of the. For example, camping for not more than 24 hours is generally allowed, traversing any ground, lake or river, swimming, lighting a fire etc. are permitted wherever the restrictions mentioned above are not violated. 49

2 Privacy Economic interests RIGHT PUBLIC OF RIGHT PUBLICOF ACCESS ACCESS Preservation Use and change of the Organized? Commercial? Guides, directions, tours... Schools, day-care centers, Scouts... Organized somewhere else (but perhaps close by); information, letting, food... Family-based, individuals... 50

3 Sweden? If physical access (topography, vegetation) and If it not will endager: - Privacy - Preservation - Economic interests The public access to the rural in Sweden as based upon the "free space" of the right of public access. 51

4 Canada, B.C.? No special signs or indications Signs indicating privacy Signs indicating considerate access Knowledge of that it is leased crown land Knowledge of that it is crown land Signs indicating recreation purposes (to a large extent no physical access due to topography and vegetation) Private; in principle no access! Leased crown land; in principle considerate access! Considerate Crown land ; in principle access! The main strategy of recreation management, and specialisation of the recreation Recreational access in British Columbia, Canada illustrated by the conditions of land tenure related to degree of access as constrained by topography and management strategies. A Conceptual Framework of Ecostrategies 52

5 Active usage and change of A Factory for producing activities utillized to improve the to use the Functional specialisation Domi- Build a nation The activity and function is the point of departure Search for a to freeze and preserve the Scene for everyday life to enjoy the Sense of place in your home district Territorial adaptation Adaptation The local is the point of departure A Museum for external consumption Passive (in relation to the ) view, enjoy, admire and explore admired 53

6 To climb indoors in the city A Factory for producing activities The cinema in the visitor center Distant district Functional specialisation Build a The activity and function is the point of departure National parks A Museum for external consumption What a beautiful place, where are we going now? Put and take fishing Slalom slope to improve the Tourism Tourism with hunting, fishing etc. from the tourists perspective Active usage and change of Search for a to freeze and preserve the Culture and Nature reserves Pick mushrooms and berries Scene for everyday life Cross-country strolling Excursions, walking-tours in the high mountains Passive (in relation to the ) view, enjoy, admire and explore Out-of-doors ( Friluftsliv ) to use the to enjoy the Environmental Education Tourism with hunting, fishing etc. from the entrepreneurs perspective Sense of place in your home district The local group for moose hunting The smallholder utillized Hunting, fishing District Territorial adaptation The local is the point of departure To sit at your own entrance steps, looking at the tame squirrel admired This is really our place 54

7 Two tentative illustrations of the right of public access analysed in the conceptual framework of different ecostrategies; first with regard to historical elements and roots constituting its essence and thereafter its current content in terms of its relatively uncontroversial core area and its much more debated fringe areas. A Factory for producing activities The root of state supremacy The evolvement of leisure and out-of-doors The root of right to use resources instead of strict land ownership The root of right to roam The root of local commons The essence of the modern right of public access: Leisure roaming without traces utillized A Museum for external consumption admired A Factory for producing activities utillized of the The fringe areas right of public access The uncontroversial core area of the right of public access A Museum for external consumption admired 55

8 Some Current Challenges General limits of tolerance Organized? especially high demands Commercial? Guides, directions, tours... Schools, day-care centers, Scouts... Organized somewhere else (but perhaps close by); information, letting, food... Family-based, individuals... The stress on: - knowledge, - selection of place, - consideration, and - perhaps the duty to announce Some proposals with regard to the Swedish Right of Public Access It is important to note as a multi-purpose use approach to that a prerequisite for the right of public access is that you can "read" the. It is "the " that tells you what is and what is not allowed, e.g. the way the land is being used may indicate how sensitive it is for people walking on it, and the weather tells you how safe it is to make a camp fire. The economic value of the ecostrategy of "passive (in relation to the ) view, enjoy, admire and explore" is increasingly important in terms of e.g. tourism, adventure and out-of-doors. Also it is important to note that the current right of public access in Sweden even though mentioned in the constitution is not defined in the law besides the "left-over" perspective mentioned. Therefore the position, content and role of the right of public access clearly are linked to habits, socialisation, education etc. 56

9 Perhaps: In law define the core of the right of public access? Introduce an insurance against damage for the land-owners paid by the tourism industry? Exclude the combination of organized and commercial use from the right of public access? Try to link the "size of the free space" of public access to residence, giving the locals more access than e.g. tourists? Make it easier to get in contact and make a deal with the landowners collectively when necessary? Make it easier to "read" the with the help of better maps, temporary local restrictions and GPS based information systems? Involve the right of public access even more strongly (e.g. in the schools) into the environmental education as an important aspect of illustrating human ecology? "Export" the right of public access as a specific meaning of and a management tool to be implemented to various degree in other countries? Some examples of relevant own texts Sandell, Klas 1997d. Naturkontakt och allemansrätt: Om friluftslivets naturmöte och friluftslandskapets tillgänglighet i Sverige Svensk Geografisk Årsbok 1997, Vol. 73, s Sandell, K. 1998d. The Public Access Dilemma: The Specialization of Landscape and the Challenge of Sustainability in Outdoor Recreation -In: Sandberg, A.L. & Sörlin, S. (eds.), Sustainability the Challenge: People, Power and the Environment. Black Rose Books, Montreal, pp Sandell, Klas 1999c. Vem tillhör landet? Om friluftsliv och folkstyrets jordbundenhet. -I: Amnå, Erik (red.) Civilsamhället. Demokratiutredningen, Forskarvolym VIII, SOU 1999:84, Stockholm, s Sandell, Klas 2000e. Ett reservatsdilemma: Kiruna nationalparksförslag och makten över fjällen som fritidslandskap. Rapport: R 2000:5, ETOUR, Östersund (i samarbete med Umeå och Örebro universitet och forskningsprogrammet "Landskapet som Arena"). Sandell, Klas 2001h. Några aspekter på svenska reservatsdilemmans förutsättningar: Arbetsrapport om allemansrätt, naturvård och landskapsperspektiv inför fördjupade studier i forskningsprogrammet FjällMistra om fjällandskapets tillgänglighet. -Forskningsprogrammen: FjällMistra och Landskapet som Arena (och dess arbetsrapport No. 4), Umeå universitet, Umeå. (Också som PDF-fil vid: Daléus, Erika & Sandell, Klas From A Sense of Place to A Sense of Marketplace: Outdoor Recreation and Public Right of Access to Nature in Sweden and Canada. -Paper presented at the international workshop "Outdoor Recreation Practice and Ideology from an International Comparative Perspective" Umeå, Sweden, September Kaltenborn, Bjørn; Haaland, Hanne & Sandell, Klas The Public Right of Access Some Challenges to Sustainable Tourism Development in Scandinavia. -J. of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp