WildDartmoor
@tonydartmoor.bsky.social
Campaigner. Dartmoor Nature Alliance. Restoring Nature on Dartmoor.
"For now, though, let us allow ourselves a small celebration of an ordinary summer." Ordinary summer? Well done Mel Stride MP for writing this whole article without once mentioning climate. www.themoorlander.co.uk/opinion/a-qu...
A quiet summer on Dartmoor worth celebrating
After one of the driest summers on record, Dartmoor escaped a major wildfire – a quiet success worth recognising and not taking for granted
themoorlander.co.uk
New blog from me about the ongoing debate over grazing and nature on Dartmoor. Farmers’ livelihoods matter. So does the state of nature. We need to take both seriously. www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/failing...
Approaches Failing Nature Require Scrutiny
This article, written by DNA's Tony Whitehead, first appeared in the Western Morning News on 26 September 2026.This week, Farmers Weekly reported that more than 40 Dartmoor farmers and commoners have ...
dartmoornature.org.uk
Reading an interesting recent report from the IUCN UK Peatland Programme and the National Trust on the compatibility of trees and peatlands. The aim is to restore hydrology first, but with some caution, there's room for trees. www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/news/native-...
Native Trees in Peatland Landscapes | IUCN UK Peatland Programme
There remains a perceived tension between trees and peat. However, native trees are an important part of our peatland natural heritage and must be included in any truly landscape-scale restoration app...
iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org
Comparing these Dartmoor National Park Authority vision images between 2021 and 2026, note the appearance of cattle, sheep and ponies on the heath ... I don't so much mind the cattle and ponies, but not sure about them sheeps! (short 🧵)
Guy Shrubsole@guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 2w agoThe amazing disappearing woodland target! 🌳 In their 2021 Vision, Dartmoor National Park Authority set a goal to create 2,000 hectares of new broadleaf woodland (image 1). In their reissued 2026 Vision, DNPA have now... deleted any target for creating woodland on Dartmoor! (image 2) 🤪
Full house in Chagford last night for the People's Emergency Briefing, and great discussion afterwards about how we build resilience in our community ... next showing, 28 September, tickets selling fast www.tickettailor.com/events/lisas...
Good to chat with people this lunchtime in Chagford and gauge views on the nature and climate crisis ahead of tomorrows (sold out) showing of the People's Emergency Briefing
NEW: Reported pheasant numbers increase in England to over 26 million, according to official data I've obtained under FOI But these stats fall far short of what the shooting industry acknowledges to be the true figures, as so many estates fail to comply with regs whoownsengland.org/2026/09/08/r...
Reported pheasant numbers increase in England as government explores regulatory options
This post is by Guy Shrubsole. Photo: AndyHi8 on Flickr, Creative Commons Licence (CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0) The latest official figures show an ongoing increase in the reported number of pheasants being br…
whoownsengland.org
Interesting opinion piece from Ben Goldsmith on sheep ... spectator.com/article/jame... Here's my view from Dartmoor on why winter sheep grazing should end www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/why-win...
James Rebanks and the trouble with sheep farming
Millions of sheep limping across our barren hillsides are not an inevitable feature of rural Britain. So why do we tolerate it?
spectator.com
Very pleased to say we are showing the People's Emergency Briefing in Chagford on 17 September - grab your tickets here ... but don't delay; they are going fast! www.tickettailor.com/events/lisas... @nebriefing.bsky.social
General admission – People's Emergency Briefing - Chagford – Jubilee Hall, Chagford
People's Emergency Briefing - Chagford – Jubilee Hall, Chagford, Thu 17 Sep 2026 - 📢 A special community screening in Chagford: The People’s Emergency Briefing #PEBuk What’s happening with climate and...
tickettailor.com
Okay, this is genuinely odd. Dartmoor Nature Alliance has received a campaign submission today from an AI for our ongoing Rainforest Campaign. Not someone using AI to write an email. A submission from an AI agent And it has apparently been exploring Dartmoor. 🧵
Walked up to White Horse Hill today … unsurprisingly the restoration pools had dried out - but the bottom of each was still wet just below the surface. Also - notice how green it is. Yep, it’s Molinia, but still …
An eerie eclipse light over Gidleigh Common, north Dartmoor
Revealed: just 20 out of of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation, as UK burns in fifth heatwave of this summer - FOI request by me @andyburnham.bsky.social needs to level with the country about the climate crisis & set out radical plan to tackle it 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires
Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwaves
theguardian.com
Really good article about how peat restoration is helping farmers - a good counter to all the nonsense from the usual nonsense about "fuel load" and "rewilding" from the minority. www.walesfarmer.co.uk/news/2614875...?
Elan Valley farmer speaks out after devastation of terrifying wildfire
A farmer has spoken out after watching the land she calls home ‘burn’ and the restored peatland that helped save it.
walesfarmer.co.uk
Flow rates on the West Dart up at Dunnabridge are falling towards the lowest in the recorded period (since 30/11/1972).
What does the Dartmoor judgement actually mean - and why does it matter for the future of nature conservation? Guest blogger Tony Whitehead unpacks the details of our recent legal action. To find out more visit buff.ly/PJC7Izs
It's a pleasure to see my article published by the good folks at @wildjustice.bsky.social. I hope it provides some useful context on the Wild Justice v Dartmoor Commoners Council judgement and what it means for nature restoration on Dartmoor's common land. wildjustice.org.uk/the-dartmoor...
The Dartmoor Judgment: Accountability, Evidence and Nature – Wild Justice
wildjustice.org.uk
Good to read at least one publication offer an alternative view … www.endsreport.com/article/1964...
‘Caving into conspiracy theories’: Natural England ‘hobbled’ as DEFRA exempts ponies from Dartmoor grazing controls
Dartmoor nature campaigners have accused the government of “caving in to conspiracy theories” and hobbling its own regulator in its latest decision on the fate of the national park’s iconic ponies.
endsreport.com
This is a deeply disappointing U-turn by the Government, driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories about "pony culls" that were never on the table. Removing ponies from stocking calculations doesn't remove the need to manage grazing on Dartmoor. www.gov.uk/government/n...
Government secures the future of Dartmoor’s iconic ponies
New measures will protect Dartmoor ponies and support those who keep them on the moor.
gov.uk
This is piquing my interest at the moment. The naïve question I have is "if the farmers want to sell the land, is a huge data centre the best subsequent use?" 🧵
Guy Shrubsole@guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 3mo agoDevonians were horrified to learn last week of plans for a massive AI data centre near Great Torrington, north Devon. The proposals from company XLinks Ltd would cover 850 acres of farmland. But who owns the land? I decided to investigate. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BREAKING: The Church of England makes landmark commitment to... business as usual? 🤔 This comes at the same time that the Church announces new teachings for the "mass extinction crisis". The Church of England can talk the talk, but clearly they can't walk the (nature) walk. #SynodVoteForNature
England’s new 30x30 plan was published yesterday on how we get to 30% of land being protected for nature by 2030. But almost immediately, one of the country’s biggest institutional landowners, the Church of England, rejects a measurable 30% restoration target for its own estate. 🧵
There's a great deal of discussion about wildfires at the moment. On Dartmoor, however, large fires, whether from controlled burns ("swaling") or started accidentally, are nothing new. 🧵
As we have come to expect from this nature-hating government, this is just more effing nonsense This 'plan' - which depends on voluntary actions by landowners - is nothing more than words and will have no impact whatsoever www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Plan to restore nature in England by 2030 criticised as ‘completely insufficient’
Critics accuse ministers of failing to take control of nature crisis and leaving it to private landowners to act voluntarily
theguardian.com
The UK Government has published its plan to reach #30by30 - and it's underwhelming. Will @churchofengland.org, as one of the UK's biggest landowners, step up and commit to ambitious nature restoration? www.theguardian.com/environment/... #SynodVoteForNature
Plan to restore nature in England by 2030 criticised as ‘completely insufficient’
Critics accuse ministers of failing to take control of nature crisis and leaving it to private landowners to act voluntarily
theguardian.com
Let’s be very clear that the media narrative “Labour's ‘woke’ rewilding” in the wake of the fire(s) in our Peak District valley is thick with disinformation. 🌍🔥Thread 1/15
Starmer's nature plan is pathetic. Burnham must do better. I've written about the government's '30by30 Delivery Plan', out today, which isn't a plan & won't deliver 30by30. I suggest some policies Burnham should pursue instead, amidst Blackadder gifs: guyshrubsole.substack.com/p/starmers-n... 1/🧵
Starmer’s nature plan is pathetic. Burnham must do better
Today's 30by30 Delivery Plan isn't a plan, and it won't deliver 30by30.
guyshrubsole.substack.com
Wearying under the continued weight of nonsense from the pony lobby ... but just to say ... Despite repeated claims, Purple Moor Grass, Molinia, is NOT an invasive plant on Dartmoor. It's a perfectly natural component of Dartmoor's blanket bogs and wet heaths.
