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Abstract
‘Wilderness' is often seen as an ideal state in contemporary debates on ecological restoration. This paper asks what is left of ‘wilderness' in present-day Western Europe and explores this question by drawing on a case study of the Hoge Veluwe National Park in the Netherlands. An overview of intellectual histories of wilderness ideas is used as a backdrop to analyze how an area such as the Veluwe has been perceived and shaped by land use through history. It is argued that historical and contemporary land use is characterized by inherently paradoxical ideas that can be conceptualized as a dichotomy of the ‘hell' and ‘paradise' sides of wilderness. Both sides are essential in constituting the attraction of wilderness. Ecological restoration policies focusing on just one side of the paradoxality of wilderness are likely to miss the character of the very place they aim to restore.
Parent Publication
Keywords
wilderness,
biodiversity,
conservation,
protected areas,
economics,
subsistence,
tourism,
traditional knowledge,
community involvement,
policy,
stewardship,
education,
spiritual values,
Dutch National Park
Citation
Arts, Koen; Fischer, Anke; van der Wal, Rene. 2011. Wilderness - between the promise of hell and paradise: A cultural-historical exploration of a Dutch National Park. In: Watson, Alan; Murrieta-Saldivar, Joaquin; McBride, Brooke, comps. Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Ninth World Wilderness Congress symposium; November 6-13, 2009; Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Proceedings RMRS-P-64. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 118-124.
