Friends of the Earth and Ethical Consumer.

Does the Ramblers count? they are active in campaigning for access to open land, anti-road/runway /housing expansion.

Conservation International, Defenders Of Wildlife, Audubon Society, Jane Goodall Institute, Friends Of Madera Canyon.

reading fox (#2): Does the Ramblers count? they are active in campaigning for access to open land....
"Open land" is open (sorry for that pun) to several interpretations. I used, many years ago, to be an active rambler and youth-hosteller and spent many happy days walking the Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, Lake District to mention just places near my then home. The early ramblers had protest walks over some deserted areas of the Pennines that were kept by the landowners only for sport (eg grouse-shooting). Here in Scotland we had only a couple of weeks ago a court case where Ann Gloag (a wealthy benefactor of many good causes) wanted to maintain privacy around her home in Perthshire but ramblers were using Scotland's 'right to roam' laws to demand access. Here we are not talking about distant moorland that just happens to belong to her but land within sight of her house and within three or four hundred yards of it. OK — she's rich and has a much bigger garden than me. But I wouldn't call it 'open' land. I'm not sure how much of this court action was driven by envy but as well as doing a lot of good for the economy of Scotland she is as I said an active worker in good causes - and I mean that in a literal sense and not just in the sense of handing over a few notes. I would support 'right to roam' in general but not when it means walking through people's backyards.

Message edited by its author, Jun 22, 2007, 2:09pm.

The Sierra Club, and a number of professional affiliations that perhaps aren't quite what you meant (the American Society for Environmental History and the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment).

My problem is that a lot of organizations are more local than national, and I've moved around too much to warrant joining them - it's hard too get a feel for the issues when you're only living there for a year or two.

#4 Scotland does have different land laws than the UK. I can't think that someone's garden would ever fall under 'right to roam'. However MANY houses have pubic rights of way very close to them. The owners know this when they bought the house. It is on all the surveys, it will partly be why that house is cheaper than equivalent properties. Buying the house and then going to court to move the footpath (often at significant incovenience to the walker eg downhill and back up again when it used to flat) is worth campaigning to prevent. In the densely populated Uk, as you know, there aren't many lowoland places at all that would allow you walk without being 400m from someones house.

On a matter of principle I only belong to disorganisations ;)

To keep our world's environment healthy, everyone must play an important part to "protect and save our planet, Earth.

Message edited by its author, Jul 27, 2007, 12:05am.

"Saving Gaia".Any ideas.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Garden Organic (HDRA) - encouraging Organic gardening for fifty years, Ramblers Association.