Purposes -- Introduction: covenants mean different things to different people; key features; selection of international comparisons -- Compatability with the National Trust Act 1937: provision to hold covenants as if a neighbour of the covenanted land; covenants can run with the land in perpetuity; covenants are restrictive only, and may not require positive actions; covenants control buildings as well as land; powers conferred on an independent body, not just government bodies; legislation in the USA -- The purposes of covenants: introduction; encroachment by development; farmland support; nature conservation; heritage building preservation; focusing covenants on priority areas

Landowner contributions (and benefits): donations, purchases and acquisitions of covenants; incentives to donate covenants; separation of development rights; flexibility; the impact of covenanting opportunities on landowners and others -- Covenant management by covenant-holders: active management and monitoring; paying for management; enforcement, landowners and neighbours; legal challenges to covenants -- Review, options, advantages and disadvantages: relationship with the land use planning system and development; political acceptability and practicability -- Conclusions and recommendations

Looks at examples of international conservation covenants and suggests that similar models might work well in the UK. The authors suggest that the government would be able to significantly increase the amount of land being protected in voluntary covenants by offering incentives for their creation that would benefit the public as a whole.