WE might take it for granted because it is so much part of everyday life, but we must never lose sight of the fact that the countryside is one of our community’s most valuable attributes.

We have no tracts of wild forest, mountains or raging rivers, but the rural interior of the Island, with its patchwork fields, its deep wooded valleys, coastal heathland and its narrow lanes and high hedges, has great charm and great beauty.

For at least a millennium and in all probability far longer, the Jersey countryside has been shaped by agriculture. By and large, ours is not a natural landscape, yet it is one that we and our visitors cherish deeply. It is also as vulnerable to thoughtless development and despoliation as virgin rainforest or untilled grassland.

With all this in mind – and also against the background of years of decline in all agricultural sectors – it is heartening that two States departments, Economic Development and Planning and Environment, have collectively issued a discussion paper on how the rural economy should evolve over the next five years.

That the issue is thought worthy of a lengthy green paper that invites public comment is significant. More significant, however, are the many measures it outlines with the broad aim of ensuring that Jersey remains a green and pleasant land while protecting the interests of all those with a stake in the countryside’s future.

Also of great and encouraging significance is the alliance of Economic Development and Planning and Environment on the strategic issues. The green paper recognises that although our green spaces must be protected and preserved, environmental initiatives should march hand in hand with economic policies. Prudent use of the land for suitable money-making enterprises is one of the best ways of preventing urban encroachment and all other forms of unacceptable development.

But although the paper gives the lie to the notion that an agricultural industry that has seen decline must inevitably face extinction, it also stresses that all Islanders, and not only those working on the land, should have access to country life. It therefore acknowledges the importance of allotments and the creation of new public access routes. It even points out that some people would be happy to help with farmwork in return for produce.

Suggested policy has been set out in black and white. It is now up to Islanders to consider it and to help refine the steps to be taken to preserve and enhance a precious asset.