Historical perceptions of the Anglo-Scottish borderlands are dominated by visions of a war-ravaged, ungovernable, economically stunted and culturally retarded zone. This bleak image, reinforced by modern metropolitanism, permeates much discussion of the pre-1300 era but examination of the internal dynamics of the Humber-Forth region reveals a complex road network that served as channels through which flows of people and ideas shaped and reconfigured community identities. Roads were powerful media for cultural change and political reconstruction, forming conduits for colonisation and facilitators of new systems of political domination and dependence. They brought a realignment of settlement patterns and eased into creation sharply defined hierarchies of economic exploitation. This paper explores how the inherited Roman and Anglo-Saxon road networks moulded new political structures in the 12th century, and how the old networks were realigned or superseded to serve a new political prescription. It traces how ‘marchland’ outside established lordship structures was opened up by roads to intensive exploitation regimes by peasant and aristocratic colonists and monastic pioneers, and how they delivered the environmental transformation of the Pennine-Southern Upland hinterland.

Edward I travelled constantly. This was not in order to govern the country, but for reasons such as visits to shrines, and to go hunting, as well as to go on campaign in Wales and Scotland. The king’s itinerary was marked by few ceremonies, such as formal entries to towns, and there was no regular pattern of travel, with plans not made long in advance. The royal household, numbering up to 500 men, required twenty or more wagons as it travelled. Main roads were not always followed; those on lesser routes were quite adequate. Waterways were also used. Speed of travel varied. Over 20 miles a day was possible, but up to 15 miles a day was normal. The king’s itinerary for 1297, a time of political crisis, provides a case study.

Chapter 4 examines the role of WWF’s approach toward scientific engagement. This chapter unpacks the WWF’s promotion of itself as an organization leading with science in all its work. It discusses the role that scientific research plays in WWF’s credibility and how WWF plans its work and frames its contribution to addressing northern issues. The chapter focuses on the repeated claim that WWF’s work is driven by scientific research and how belief in the scientific underpinnings of WWF’s work influences and frames WWF’s lobbying and advocacy efforts, as well as the types of professions that the organization is able to recruit to represent it in its Arctic programme and national offices, as well as in forums like the Arctic Council.

WWF is one of the most recognizable international environmental non-governmental organizations (IENGOs) in the world. The Arctic has become one of the organization’s key focus areas in the twenty-first century, but what the general public is less aware of is the fact that WWF has been involved in its northern work for decades. The introduction outlines the book’s rationale and approach for investigating the work of WWF in the Arctic and the North and how it has built its role in regional discussions and decision-making in order to engage different local, national, regional and international audiences.

Chapter 1 contextualizes the book’s exploration of how WWF approaches its Arctic work and how it is received by regional, national and local actors by situating WWF’s work within the wider context of the history of IENGO involvement in the North. It introduces core concepts necessary to understand the operating conditions for environmental and animal rights organizations, and WWF in particular, in the Circumpolar North, and what factors like trust, moral legitimacy and stigma are and what role they play in the capacity of IENGOs to make inroads into the Arctic with different audiences in the region.

Chapter 2 explores the WWF legacy. It focuses on the work that the national organizations and WWF Arctic have done to distinguish themselves from the negative legacy of IENGOs in the Circumpolar North, and the Arctic in particular. This chapter discusses the broader legacies of the anti-sealing and anti-whaling movements and WWF’s effort to navigate local perceptions of IENGOs which resulted from the cultural and economic fallout from these movements. The chapter also examines the challenges faced by large international NGOs trying to navigate internal divergences in opinions and interests amongst its various branches. The chapter emphasizes how the work of one national branch can impact the work of another, even when the two sub-organizations are largely disconnected from one another.

Chapter 5 delves into the benefits and drawbacks of WWF’s communication style and how that communication style has helped to characterize external expectations of the organization and how it is able to engage on certain topics with different actors. The chapter emphasizes the role of audiences and perceptions of transparency and legitimacy play in all NGO work and how WWF’s communication style is a reflection of its effort to navigate its internal preferences and agendas with external actors’ and audiences’ receptiveness, wants and needs in national, regional and international governance debates and discussions. The chapter points out the potential implications if WWF altered its communication style and some alternative perspectives on its effectiveness.

The conclusion discusses how the framework developed in the book can have broader application for the study of environmental and animal rights organizations, specifically the exploration of organizational evolution and appeal to target audiences. It emphasizes that the book provides insights into the role and appeal of the WWF in Arctic diplomacy and northern environmental issues, and highlights the input of Arctic state representatives and Arctic Indigenous peoples’ representatives as providing triangulating reflections on WWF’s work. However, the conclusion also notes the long-term implications of anti-sealing and anti-whaling campaigning on receptiveness of environmental and animal rights activists in the North and the Arctic, as well as the need for expanded research in the future on in-depth Arctic state specific experiences with IENGOs and more detailed investigation into Indigenous perspectives of WWF, and IENGOs in general.

Chapter 3 explores the role of the networks of WWF and its representatives in how WWF has approached its northern work and the reception to its northern work, ideas and proposals. The chapter stresses the value of networks and their necessity to effect any change with actors such as governments and businesses. The chapter also alludes to some of the potential liabilities for an organization’s credibility when it decides to partner with certain actors whose existence or history run counter to an organization’s purpose and stated priorities. It notes the concerns in the non-state actor literature about NGOs being perceived by their supporters as selling out or being co-opted by corporate or government actors when accepting financial support from them and how the challenge of fundraising, partnerships and alliances is navigated by WWF in Circumpolar North/Arctic work.