2A.10 - The value of glaciated landscapes

Intrinsic and scientific value

A glaciated landscape can be valued for its existence as well as for the services people obtain from it.

A preservationist may argue that an undisturbed glacier, tundra ecosystem or relict landform deserves protection even if no tourist visits it. This differs from instrumental value, such as income, water storage or scientific knowledge. These values can reinforce each other, but reducing everything to a market price excludes some reasons for protection. Intrinsic value is a reasoned ethical position, not a directly measurable cash figure.

Active polar landscapes provide scientific evidence about climate and Earth systems. Ice cores preserve successive layers of ice and trapped atmospheric gases; British Antarctic Survey explains how these records allow investigation of past atmospheric change. Measurements of present ice thickness, flow and mass balance help test models of future change. Research has global value although the field sites are remote and the benefits do not accrue only to nearby residents.

Relict cirques, moraines and till also provide an archive of former climate and ice extent. Their scientific value depends on preserving relationships between landforms and deposits: removing a ridge for aggregate can destroy evidence even if a photograph survives. Research stations and access can themselves disturb wildlife or introduce pollution, so scientific value does not make all research activity environmentally harmless.

Culture, spirituality and wilderness recreation

People attach meanings to glaciated landscapes through identity, experience and belief, and those meanings influence acceptable uses.

Wilderness recreation includes walking, climbing and experiencing remoteness, with benefits for wellbeing and appreciation of nature. The desired experience may depend on quiet, open views and limited infrastructure. A road or cableway can make access easier while reducing the remoteness others value. Accessibility, cultural meanings and ecological protection therefore need consideration together.

In New Zealand's active Southern Alps, Aoraki/Mount Cook has a cultural value extending beyond scenery. The Department of Conservation identifies Aoraki as a sacred ancestor for Ngāi Tahu. Respect for this relationship concerns identity, ancestral connection and stewardship, rather than simply a visitor's preference for an attractive view. Recognising such meanings changes whose knowledge and authority should inform management. Do not assume all Indigenous communities or all members of a community have identical priorities.

The Lake District is a contrasting relict landscape: its present valleys and lakes were shaped by past glaciation, while farming and cultural activity subsequently transformed them. The National Park Authority records its 2017 World Heritage inscription as a cultural landscape, including a distinctive farming system and the influence of its scenery. Cultural value here does not require the landscape to be untouched.

Attitudes form a spectrum from exploitation, using resources primarily for immediate benefit, through conservation and sustainable use to preservation, which favours keeping sensitive systems with minimal disturbance. A tourism business can support protection because intact scenery sustains income; a farmer can value both production and inherited landscape practices. Avoid equating every economic player with exploitation or every visitor with preservation.

Economic uses in contrasting environments

The economic value of a glaciated region depends on climate, relief, deposits, accessibility and institutions, so the same landscape supports different activities in different places.

The Lake District's relict terrain supports farming, tourism and woodland use, and its cultural landscape includes a history of industries using wood, rock, minerals and water power. These activities explain why a protected landscape is also a lived-in working environment. Keeping farming traditions, improving habitats and supporting jobs can pull management in different directions.

Contrast this with the Aoraki–Upper Waitaki region. Active glaciers and high mountain scenery support guiding and recreation, while water from mountain catchments feeds lakes used by the downstream hydroelectric system. Meridian's account of the Waitaki scheme identifies Lake Pūkaki as part of its storage system. The electricity benefit reaches users well beyond the glacier valleys. Hydropower storage is not the same as preserving an unmodified glacial lake, and not all inflow is glacier melt: snowmelt and rainfall also matter. The national park itself is largely without forest, so the forestry row must not be applied indiscriminately to its high alpine zone.

An economic judgement should specify who gains and who bears the costs. Local jobs and household income differ from the profits of outside firms; national electricity security differs from a downstream community's preferred river flow. Spending by visitors is not a complete net benefit unless environmental costs, displaced uses and money leaving the local economy are considered.

Tundra biodiversity, water and carbon

Glaciated and periglacial landscapes support distinctive habitats and regulate flows of water and carbon even where biological productivity is low.

Tundra vegetation is adapted to cold, short growing seasons and, in many Arctic areas, permafrost. Low shrubs, sedges, mosses and lichens avoid some exposure to wind; shallow roots exploit the seasonally thawed active layer. Migratory birds use productive summer wetlands, while animals and plants have adaptations to seasonal food supply. Low species counts compared with a rainforest do not mean low conservation value: specialised habitats, migration links and distinctive species can be difficult to replace. Bare glacier ice and treeless tundra are different environments, and not all permafrost occurs in tundra.

Frozen ground restricts downward drainage, creating wet ground and ponds when the active layer thaws. Ice and snow store water and release it seasonally, influencing river discharge and downstream ecosystems. The balance between storage, melt and rainfall varies among catchments. A change in permafrost can reroute drainage, while glacier loss changes the timing and eventually the amount of meltwater supplied. Reservoirs may redistribute the flow but do not reproduce every natural function.

Plants remove atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis. Cold and sometimes waterlogged soils slow decomposition, allowing organic matter to accumulate, with a substantial store in permafrost. NSIDC explains the connection between frozen ground and stored carbon. Thaw makes some formerly frozen organic material available to microbes: decomposition can release carbon dioxide and, under anaerobic conditions, methane. The balance also depends on vegetation growth, moisture and fire, so do not assume every tundra site is always a net sink or always a net source.