Bristol University’s ‘Militarized Landscapes in Twentieth-Century Britain, France and the United States’ project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) was featured on the BBC television programme The One Show on Monday 19 January.

The three year project is led by Professor Peter Coates of the Department of Historical Studies and looks at the emergence, management and meaning of militarized landscapes.  The project explores the role of military lands as reservoirs of biodiversity often superior in ‘green’ value to surrounding non-militarized landscapes subject to intensive agricultural practices and other customary forms of human encroachment.

In the edition broadcast on Monday, Professor Coates was interviewed about the importance of Salisbury Plain, especially the half owned by the Ministry of Defence, as an ecological reserve.  Because the MOD limit access by the general public, Salisbury Plain has now become a nature refuge.

To such an extent, in fact, that it is being used as the location for the reintroduction of the Great Bustard, the heaviest flying bird, to the UK.

This research project is part of the AHRC Landscape and Environment Research Programme.

The segment can be viewed online until Monday 26 January.