The first edition of a new series of the Tyne Tees Television rural affair programme Landmark presented by Eric Robson. The first report comes from Cumbria and the potential farm animal of the future; Camelids. This is followed by an interview with Dr David Bellamy, President of the newly formed environmental group 'Plantlife' which aims to campaign to protect endangered plant habitats around the world. The programme ends with an interview with Ramsey Bettinson from North Yorkshire...

The first edition of a new series of the Tyne Tees Television rural affair programme Landmark presented by Eric Robson. The first report comes from Cumbria and the potential farm animal of the future; Camelids. This is followed by an interview with Dr David Bellamy, President of the newly formed environmental group 'Plantlife' which aims to campaign to protect endangered plant habitats around the world. The programme ends with an interview with Ramsey Bettinson from North Yorkshire Ramblers about the issues of access for ramblers across farmland. Title: Landmark The first story comes from a farm in Cumbria which has diversified into the breeding of Camelids such as Lama, Alpaca and Guanaco. Interview with farmer Pat Bentley who explains how she got into the business and why she likes the animals. They are well suited to British grasslands and are relatively easy to look after. The Alpaca produces a luxury fibre which is the strongest of this type producing between 8-9lbs per animal a year which is selling at around £2 an ounce. There are problems currently with only 150 animals in the UK at present. Due to foot-and-mouth being prevalent in South America it isn't possible to import more. At Penrith Auction Mart a special sale is being held, only the second in the UK., of Camelids. There is a vox pop with people attending the auction, some are there to buy animals as pets, others for breeding. One farmer is interviewed who says he is buying animals for his farm at Kirklinton near Carlisle where he breeds Camelids for the Californian market. The market is very strong in America with one lama fetching $150,000 at auction. At present Camelids are being bought for breeding rather than fibre. £116,000 is made for Pat Bentley from the sale which she is very pleased about even though not all her animals are sold. With prices as they are Camelids are currently out of reach of most farmers. Title: Landmark The second part of the programme begins with a look back on some of the stories featured in the previous series with updates on bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, Tuberculosis in deer, un-pasteurised or 'green top' milk and listeria in pate. This is followed by an interview with Dr David Bellamy who is President of newly formed environmental group 'Plantlife' which aims to campaign to protect endangered plant habitats around the world. There are more than 60,000 plants that are in danger, many of which have no names. Only 1% of plants are useful to people. He had recently visited Sri Lanka which at the turn of the century they planted 280 varieties of rice, now they plant only 4 of the original 27 varieties. Stolen plant bulb which are brought into the UK are also an issue as many, such as the African Violet, are becoming almost extinct in the wild. In the UK 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost to modern farming techniques and the drainage of wetlands. He believes that seeds should be collected of rare plants, properly propagated and re-introduced where they are at risk. Gardner's can also become involved who, under guidance, could help protect gene stocks. Schemes such as the one undertaken by the government in which farmer are paid £80 an acre to leave part of the land uncultivated should also be encouraged. In the final part of the programme Eric Robson interviews Ramsey Bettinson from North Yorkshire Ramblers ahead of a specially organised rambles entitled '55 Walks of Protest'. There are a small number of famers who are causing problems with allowing access across their land. This protest is aimed to highlight the problems of 15% of farmers blocking rights-of-way. They also believe that county councils should be doing more to make sure that signposts are along every pathway. They also want to encourage farmers to roll out tracks across their fields so that people are aware of rights-of-way preventing people from diverting around the edges which may cause people to give up and walk back to the country lane. Credit: Camera Simon Crouch, Chris Sutcliffe, Chris Hunt Credit: Sound Paul Gunn Credit: Production Assistant Pauline Grant Credit: Production Secretary Coreen Harvey Credit: Sound Postproduction John Overton Credit: VT Editors Amanda Baxter, Edmund Quigley, Mike Pounder Credit: VT Assistant Editor Claire Storey Credit: Research William Moult Credit: Executive Producer Chris Potter Credit: Director Simon Lawson Credit: Producer Charles Bowen End Credit: Waterfront Productions for Tyne Tees Television (c) MCMLXXXIX