Conservation of Landscapes of Historic and Cultural Value: The Emergence of a Movement‪.‬

Abstract Conservation of landscapes of cultural and historic value has emerged as an increasingly significant aspect of the understanding and management of the built environment over the past 25 years. Distinct patterns and trends are observable over this quarter century in which landscape has evolved from an obscure aspect of Canadian heritage to one now seen in many dimensions. Four identifiable approaches - reconstruction, restoration, conservation planning, and cultural landscapes-reflect differing philosophies in the treatment of landscapes. Each has made distinctive demands in terms of knowledge, technologies, and communication, and each has contributed through research, experimentation, and publications to better understanding of the historic landscapes of our country. These characteristic approaches to identification, protection, and management of past landscapes reflect changes in both Canadian society and the international conservation movement, to which Canadians have actively contributed and from which they have also learned. Given the aging of Canada's pioneers in historic landscape conservation and the transience of communications technologies in today's world, there is an urgent need to capture our experience in this field while we have among us those who were most influential in its early years. And we still know very little about the history of how Canadians have designed, evolved, and valued the land.