News and Star readers have shared their views as television presenter Kate Humble is set to speak at a Lakes-based symposium on climate change.

The online event with a stellar line-up of speakers comes courtesy of the University of Cumbria’s Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA) on December 1.

Aimed at probing landscape care and management at a time of climate and biodiversity crises, the Countryfile and Springwatch celebrity is expected to talk about beauty being ‘little more than a façade’.

She will argue that attractiveness comes from landscapes that work, supporting life and livelihoods, stressing the importance of biodiversity, rural skills and crafts.

Organiser Rob Fraser, of Ambleside-based CNPPA and the People Land Art Culture Ecology (PLACE) Collective, said a raft of speakers had been selected from a range of interests, spanning ecology, art, earth sciences, farming and landscape management.

The event coincides with landmark anniversaries, the 70th of the Lake District National Park and Wye Valley AONB’s 50th.

“The two areas were key inspirations for William Wordsworth and the birth of the Romantic and Picturesque movements, which shaped what came to be celebrated as natural beauty,” added Mr Fraser.

On the News and Star’s website, one reader shared: “In the UK there are no truly wild natural landscapes. Nearly every single one of them has been affected by man’s hand. However, some of those landscapes are beautiful, so much so that people decided over 50 years ago to protect these "special" landscapes by forming National Parks. Now everyone wants to re-wild these places by getting rid of the sheep etc and letting the trees grow back. We will then no longer have the same landscapes that were protected in the first place.”

Facebook users were asked if they were worried about how climate change could affect Cumbria. Brett High answered: “Not at all, we have no ice to melt in Cumbria. Plus, there’s flood defences that have been built since 2015. We’re sorted.”

Nick Graves feels the presenter is not the right person for the symposium. He answered: “No, and especially not to be lectured by Kate Humble who should be out of a job.”