Preserving Dartmoor's future today

Dartmoor holds a special place in the heart of many people, both locally and further afield. With its stone rows, cairns and tors, plus its many streams and rivers, it draws walkers, wild campers and adventure seekers from far and wide. 

But Dartmoor is a vulnerable landscape which has, for many years, been under threat.

For 140 years, the Dartmoor Preservation Association has advocated and campaigned for this precious landscape, opposing non-native afforestation, china-clay pit expansion,

reservoirs, A-road building and huge telecoms masts. 

At the same time as preventing disfigurement of the Moor the DPA has campaigned on issues of fundamental importance to the future of Dartmoor including the creation of the National Park in the first place, the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985, access legislation and wild-camping rights. 

After 140 years, we all now all find ourselves in an odd time. 

Dartmoor, our National Parks and our protected landscapes are under greater threat now than they have ever been.

The population of the UK has increased by 40 million or so since the DPA was founded, including 10 million additional UK residents just since the millennium. 

The covid pandemic introduced national parks and AONBs to many first-time visitors, but government funding is constantly being squeezed and BREXIT has thrown agri-environment schemes and future farming payments into doubt. 

There is a cost-of-living crisis still affecting people at the family level and the increased threat of climate change is forcing us to think differently about how we live, work in, and view the natural world.

Against this backdrop of competing priorities and financial pressure it may seem like wild spaces and areas remote from major conurbations can be de-prioritised in funding terms but in fact our natural heritage and farming economy have never been more important. Something lovers of Dartmoor; visitors, residents and business owners understand inherently. 

The work of the DPA on Dartmoor has taken on a renewed importance in light of these threats.

The DPAs most important relationship is with its members, but our other vital relationship is with Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA). 

We often describe ourselves as the DNPA’s ‘critical friend’. 

This is a position that is unique on Dartmoor to the DPA. 

We have built that relationship slowly over many years by offering well-reasoned opposition to short-term thinking and putting the needs of the moor and its inhabitants ahead of any personal considerations or the temporary winds of change.

Inherent in being a ‘critical friend’ is to be hard-headed and often in opposition, the DPA are

committed to doing this in the 21st Century by responding to planning applications, byelaws,

developments, and legislative change that would undermine the national park. 

Examples include the proliferation of telecoms masts, the Plymouth FreePort outer boundary and the implications of incorrect grazing regimes on the landscape.

At the heart of the DPAs success and influence throughout our history has been the dedication and energy of our members. 

Whether as supporters silently willing us on, or Trustees, or active volunteers on the land or in the many campaigns, it has been the strength and dedication of the members that has kept the DPA up and running and thriving. 

We are always looking for new

members, whatever their interest in Dartmoor maybe and the DPA are actively involved in

programmes to get young people trained in the practical aspects of caring for a national park so that in time they can carry on this important work.

The Backpack Camping court case, which has dominated much of the news on Dartmoor, has rumbled on for 18 months, in three courts. 

In early October the final decision either way will be given in the Supreme Court. 

The DPA will be there, working with our partners to reestablish this unique Dartmoor benefit as a right not a permission.

Like so many others, we are hopeful of success.

The DPA owns four pieces of land on Dartmoor, which include open moorland at Sharpitor and Swincombe, an enclosed area of moorland and woodland at High House Waste and an enclosed area of hay meadows at Pudsham. 

All of these sites have been bought with the aim of protecting and conserving the unique habitat and archaeology of the moor where they would have otherwise been destroyed by development.

At Sharpitor we maintain Bronze Age reaves, hut circles and pounds by clearing bracken ensuring important archaeology is not grown over and lost. 

Through our ownership of land at Swincombe, we are members of the Central Dartmoor Farm Cluster and are working to enhance habitats as part of their Landscape Recovery project. 

At High House Waste, above Cornwood, we clear vegetation to enhance biodiversity and to conserve historic features, which include the remains of a mediaeval farmstead. 

Pudsham is managed for the benefit of wildflowers and orchids, with a recent count tallying 2000 native orchids. 

Regular conservation work days here aim to reverse the decline of species-rich hay

meadows and model how this type of habitat can be restored to peak health. 

The land was purchased in 2016 and our efforts since then have been rewarded by an abundance of wildflowers and pollinating insects that rely on them.  

Our land work is delivered by a dedicated team of volunteers who work across various sites on Dartmoor throughout the year, caring for our four pieces of land and assisting with conservation work on other important sites. 

Dartmoor contains 10 per cent of Europe’s Bronze Age remains, the biggest threat to them is invasive flora, our volunteers clear a lot of bracken!

We also undertake clearance of bracken from the Plymouth and Devonport Leats across Roborough Down, gorse and bracken clearance at Buckland Common Settlement and bracken clearance at Venford Reservoir farmstead. 

The DPA has been engaged in these long-term projects in partnership with organisations such as the Roborough Commoners Association, Historic England and South West

Water, who have also supported the DPA with funding. 

We also do habitat improvement projects creating butterfly friendly habitats at Common Wood, near Horndon, on Roborough Down and in partnership with Shallowford Farm Trust. British butterflies are a cause for conservation concern, with over half of our native species in decline.

Butterfly friendly habitats help species like the Meadow Brown, Painted Lady and High Brown Fritillary to breed successfully. 

The DPA approaches the preservation of Dartmoor from a holistic perspective, acknowledging that the moor is a working landscape with a long history of industry and human settlement. 

In the 21st century, threats to Dartmoor are perhaps more insidious than a huge telecoms mast; such as climate change, population pressures, chronic underfunding of national parks and a rapidly expanding conversation on what national parks should be for.

Recently, we have reaffirmed our commitment to enabling young people to access and care for the moor through our funding and support for the Dartmoor Youth Rangers, Girls Do Dartmoor, Nights Under The Stars project and Moor Boots. 

These initiatives are all aimed at opening the Moor to new young people, who we hope will become the future custodians of Dartmoor. 

Our 140 years on The Moor proves the value of the Preservationist approach and reminds us that it is about other people in the future, not us right here and now. 

We are preserving something for someone, not keeping it static or unchanging for ourselves.

Everyone is welcome to get involved.

Our conservation workdays and informative walks are free and open to all,including non-members and potential members. 

In addition to our scheduled workdays, we also offer corporate volunteering opportunities for groups who want to make a difference for Dartmoor whilst benefiting from fantastic team building activities out in nature.

As a charity, we rely on donations, using the money you give us to fund our conservation activities and projects like Moor Boots, Girls Do Dartmoor and political campaigning on issues like back-pack camping. 

Becoming a member of the DPA has many benefits, including receiving our magazine three times a year, invites to free members activities and seasonal social events. 

These are all great opportunities to mix with like-minded people and learn more about the history, ecology and cultural relevance of Dartmoor.

But, the greatest benefit of all is being an active part of a community which constantly strives to do what is best for Dartmoor, both for now and the future.  

Find out more about becoming a member here:  www.dartmoorpreservation.co.uk/become-a-member/

Discover more about our free workdays and walks here: https://dartmoorpreservation.co.uk/679-2/

Follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/p/Dartmoor-Preservation-Association-100064575736968/