Environmental management of common land: towards a new legal framework?

Common land in England and Wales has a distinctive legal status where ownership of land is subject to third-party rights to use the land and its produce. The need to reform the existing law governing commons is widely recognised but attention to date has been largely focussed on the recreational, agricultural and amenity uses of commons. But common land has considerable environmental significance, and there is an urgent need to develop a sharper focus for its environmental management. Legal arrangements for the management of common land are currently found in a number of old public and local Acts of Parliament. Management agreements are a favoured mechanism under contemporary environmental legislation dealing with the protection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and under various agri-environment schemes, but their implementation and administration do not rest easily with the distinctive nature of the interests associated with commons. New legislative measures that should be considered include the granting of legal status to Commons Associations, the introduction of more accurate and up-to-date registers of interests, and measures to deal with unused and excessive grazing rights.