News: Bringing Dartmoor Back to Life

Becka Brook Valley, Dartmoor

New project to capture community support and priorities for nature restoration on Dartmoor.  

New “Manifesto for Dartmoor’s Nature” to be produced.

Dartmoor Nature Alliance's (DNA) “Bringing Dartmoor Back to Life” project, launched today [11 April], will bring together people from across Dartmoor’s communities who care about nature restoration and will campaign for a nature-rich future for Dartmoor.  The project is funded by the Devon Environment Foundation.

The project will result in the creation of a new call to action for a nature-rich Dartmoor, presented through a compelling mixture of words, visual art, music, soundscape and personal story.

Harry Barton, DNA chairperson, said, “Dartmoor is not in a good state, and for far too long, nature’s voice has been missing. This is despite the fact that we know many thousands of local people are passionate about a nature-rich future for this special place.  Ordinary people who want to see the peatlands brought back to life, the woodlands restored and expanded, and heaths blooming again with heather and billberry. This project will make people’s voices count and empower people to use their passion and make a difference.”

At the heart of the project in its first stages is producing a Manifesto for Dartmoor’s Nature.

Through workshops to the north and south of the moor in summer 2025, DNA will co-create a positive vision and manifesto for Dartmoor’s nature with people who have a passion for it. They include naturalists, nature-friendly farmers, community activists, and others who have a lively interest in wildlife. 

The manifesto will be expressed artistically, represented visually and in sound, story, and song (all generated by local specialists), as well as words. This will help to establish a strong connection to the actions that are needed and to explain and advocate the vision easily.

Lisa Schneidau, DNA project manager, said, “In our work, we will bring together a local community of Dartmoor nature advocates. Equipped with a shared clear vision and manifesto, working together, this community will campaign and take action, reminding our leaders how important nature is, supporting good work and criticising bad, working for positive change.”

Details of the workshops and invitations to tender for the creative work will be released shortly.

“Bringing Dartmoor Back to Life” is funded by the Devon Environment Foundation https://devonenvironment.org/. DEF’s ambition is for at least 30% of Devon’s land and water to be protected and restored by 2030.

What do the new Government proposals on peatland burning mean for Dartmoor?

Tony Whitehead, 31 March 2025

Swaling on deep peat on Penn and Stall Moor, March 2025

Nature-rich peatland habitats are to be better protected under plans set out by the Government today (Monday 31 March), which would ban burning on peat in the uplands, improving health and wellbeing of people in nearby communities.

This is a very welcome statement from the Governmnet today. It recognises the value of our precious peatlands for both nature and carbon, and it recogises the impacts that burning in our uplands has on communities. The “ban”, basically, will change the rules on where peat can be burned without a Government licence. It will increase the peat area currently protected in England from 222,000 to more than 368,000 hectares. 

There will be a public consultation on these proposals, which will run until 25 May. We urge as many people as possible to participate and share their views. To help, here’s a quick analysis of the proposals and what this means for Dartmoor. 

On Dartmoor, burning is known as “swaling” - there’s an article here about this practice and its effects on nature and the environment. To be fair, there is relatively little burning on Dartrmoor’s peat compared to the grouse moors of northern England. Most swaling is done locally to manage gorse and scrub, and most of this is not on peat. However, it does still occur on peat, and I’ll give a fascinating example from this year at the end of this article. 

Essentially, the proposals today will further tighten the rules, which is beneficial for Dartmoor. 

The Changes

The current “rules” as described in the The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021 state

a person must not burn specified vegetation on a designated site on peat that is of a depth of more than 40 centimetres, except under (and in accordance with) a licence issued by the Secretary of State under regulation 4.

Currently, there should be no burning of peat over 40cm in depth on a designated site, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and/or a European site (SAC/SPA), without special permission from Defra. The new proposals are to change the peat depth to 30cm and extend the area from SSSIs/SAC/SPAs to Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) 

LFAs were first introduced by the EU in 1975 to describe areas where farming conditions are difficult - areas with poor soils, steep slopes, high altitudes, or harsh climates. This in turn has helped target financial support over the past few decades. 

Changes On Dartmoor

The whole of Dartmoor, not surprisingly, is an LFA.  Only parts of Dartmoor are designated as SSSIs. Therefore, the area where special consideration of peat is required is increased.  

The 30cm depth also increases the area. Most of Dartmoor’s deepest peats (over 40cm) are already protected in SSSIs. These are the great central blanket bogs of the high moor. But not all - there are some deep peats outside the SSSIs, and crucially, there may well be much larger areas where the 30cm will bring extra protection. 

The data we have on peat depth is variable in quality, but very soon, Natural England will be publishing much more detailed maps.  What we have currently are maps that split peat into depths over 40cm depth, 10-40cm and peaty soils.  But if we layer these on the SSSI boundaries, we see the following:  

Immediately, we see that, potentially, more of the central areas of Dartmoor would be covered under the proposals. There is a significant amount of peat suggested at depths of10-40cm here, so some of this could fall under the new rules. But we also see that there are some areas of deep peat as well. Zooming in to that area around Merrivale - Princetown - Two Bridges - Postbridge, we see fairly large areas of deeper peat in the darker shade: 

Likewise, in the Teignhead/Gidleigh Common area (including Fernworth Forest, parts of which are also on peat, but that’s another story). 

The changes, therefore, will likely bring broader regulation of burning on Dartmoor’s peat, which is to be welcomed. 

Licences

Under the current system, anyone wishing to burn on deep peat can apply for a licence. The legislation provides several reasons why permission would be granted, including to enhance the natural environment, reduce fire risk, or because vegetation is inaccessible to mechanical cutting.

In the new proposals, applicants must explain why alternative methods have not been effective or would not be effective, which is a reasonable requirement.  Then, they need to demonstrate how they intend to reduce the need for burning in the future. The direction here is clear - burning on peat is simply not acceptable, and it’s great to see the Government being clear on this. 

Of course, if these proposals become legislation, we will also need to see the statutory agencies, particularly the NE, given the necessarysupport and resources to enforce the law.  And where prosecutions are successful, we need to see fines that are a proper deterrent. In 2023, the owners of a grouse shooting moor in the Peak District were fined just £1800 plus costs for illegal burning.  

We should also be looking at what happens with respect to agri-environment schemes on land managed by those who break the law. For example, each parcel of land has a unique identifier that is the basis for subsidy payments. Where an illegal burn occurs, using the identifier, you could successively reduce payments for each offence on that land, culminating in the complete withdrawal of funding. The taxpayer, surely, should not be subsidising lawbreaking.  

Burning on Deep Peat on Dartmoor 

Prior to the mid 1990s, Dartmoor’s blanket bogs were routinely swaled, and this contributed to their erosion. However, recognising this, the first Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) schemes in the mid-1990s prohibited burning on Dartmoor’s blanket bogs.  Any commoner wishing for financial support from the taxpayer was required to adhere to this rule. As a result of the retention of this rule in subsequent schemes, Dartmoor’s blanket bogs have largely been saved from burning for the last thirty years.

Unfortunately, however, it still happens. 

This month, a camper on Dartmoor sent the local Right to Roam Campaign Group, The Stars are for Everyone, a photograph of a burn on Dartmoor. It was located on South Dartmoor, near the River Erme, at Erme Plains, on Penn and Stall Moor.  The two burnt patches can be seen here:

We reviewed the data we had on the nature of this site and became curious when we found that it was located on blanket bog/wet heath within the boundaries of the Dartmoor SAC and South Dartmoor SSSI. Suspecting it was on deep peat, a few of us took the long walk up to the location. The areas of the two burns are 1.6ha and 3.3ha. Peat samples were taken across the site, and on both burns, we found numerous depths over 40cm, up to  67cm.  The sphagnum moss was severely damaged (bleached) by the burn, which is the starting point for peat erosion (see video explanation here).

Being within the protected area and on deep peat, without a licence, this burn would not be permissible. We have submitted our data to Defra and have asked Natural England if consent was given for this burn. 

Do the proposals go far enough? 

While the proposals are very welcome, why is there a 30cm limit? Dartmoor’s wet heath is a key feature of protected areas, and by definition, wet heath is on peat under 30cm.  It is a scarce habitat, and burning damages it just as it does blanket bog. Having established that peat is a precious resource, why not ban burning on peat of any depth and protect the whole resource? 

It would also be good to ensure that the alternatives to burning are appropriate.  Cutting is one such alternative, but we must ensure that cutting of vegetation on peatland habitats is justified in terms of the restoration and maintenance of nature.  Or if necessary, it is part of an agreed-upon wildfire management plan, while also recognizing that the most effective way to reduce fire risk on peatlands is to restore and rewet the peat. Otherwise, rotational cutting could simply replace rotational burning as a land management technique that still does not have nature as its core aim.  

Taking Action

Being aware of how the countryside is managed while out and about is important. In the case above, two “wild” campers noticed something unusual and asked about it. This is great. If you see what looks like 'controlled' burning on Dartmoor between October and March (the swaling season on Dartmoor), please check it against the regulations. If you suspect it may be illegal, you can submit the data to Defra via the RSPB Upland Burning app. Please also check what you are seeing against Dartmoor’s regulations. 

Please also take part in the consultation on peat burning. All our voices can and do make a difference in this precious landscape. 

For regular updates from the Dartmoor Nature Alliance, ask to be added to our mailing list by emailing us at info@dartmoornature.org.uk 

We need to talk about swaling

Swaling on Dartmoor, 4 March 2025

Author: Tony Whitehead

As I write this [March 2025], a pall of smoke hangs over Dartmoor. The clear, still weather this past few days has provided perfect conditions for moorland burning, or “swaling”.   However, we are in a climate and ecological emergency, and many people are asking whether this practice is still acceptable.  In this article, I’ll look at the issues that surround swaling, its historical effects, and its current use to try and answer this question. 

In summary, I argue that swaling historically has damaged nature on Dartmoor and although now much reduced in extent, it continues to have a negative impact. I argue that the current ban on burning on deep peat needs to be extended to all peat and that we need to re-evaluate how swaling is used to control “scrub”. 

The use of fire to manage common land on Dartmoor is probably as old as the earliest settlers in this great upland. Known locally as “swaling”, moorland farmers have long used burning to clear scrub, such as gorse, and promote the growth of palatable grasses to feed ever-hungry livestock. Nature conservationists are also not averse to the use of fire to manage particular habitats, either directly on nature reserves or by encouraging others through agri-environment schemes. It has been a useful tool in the toolbox.

However, if applied too frequently or incorrectly, swaling damages nature and compromises our ability to help tackle the climate crisis. As you’ll read below, historically, it’s had a significant negative impact on Dartmoor’s peatlands. There are also questions about the use of swaling to "control” gorse and bracken – particularly around the purpose of using fire in places where these plants dominate.

Burning the Bogs

Historically, on Dartmoor, the practice of swaling was much more widespread than it is today. While it’s been done for generations, from the 1950s/60s and especially in the 80s to mid 90s, the practice intensified and huge areas were repeatedly burned by farmers and commoners to clear land and provide grass for large numbers of livestock that, at the time, were encouraged by handsome European production subsidies.

In 1953, in the first New Naturalist book on Dartmoor, L. A. Harvey and D. St. Leger-Gordon noted that “...on Dartmoor the already over-stocked pasturage is indiscriminately burned”.  Maps of the extent of burning on Dartmoor were first published in 1972 in a paper describing the vegetation of Dartmoor. It showed, for example, that between 1967 and 1969, 4362ha of the Dartmoor commons were burned. Some of the individual burns noted on these maps covered large areas of the high moor. This included large areas of blanket bog on deep peat.

This paper is also important for raising the issue of Purple Moor Grass (Molinia caerulea) and its links to fire. Many commoners suggest that the stranglehold Molinia has on Dartmoor’s blanket bogs and wet heaths is a modern phenomenon, brought about by agri-environment schemes restricting grazing. The authors of the 1972 paper, however, are clear: “One striking feature of much of Dartmoor’s blanket bog is the prevalence of Molinia.” 

They then continue to describe how Molinia is relatively resistant to fire, and a situation where burns - of the scale then being carried out - would effectively remove any competition from other vegetation and allow Molinia to flourish. They suggest that the dominant hold of Molinia on the high moor was evidence of the development of “fire-climax” communities.

Historically, the cutting and deliberate drainage had already degraded and dried the peat to an extent. But the repeated intense burning had a further profound effect on the blanket bogs that favoured the Molinia.  If you burn peat regularly and graze it heavily, together you remove plants that cover the developing peat, especially mosses. Once exposed to the atmosphere, peat oxidises, and it is washed away when it rains. This causes serious erosion and, over time, the water table falls. This process is explained very clearly in this IUCN short film. 

With its deep roots, Molinia is able to survive drops in the water table and basically “take over” the peat. In a sense, Molinia is the visible symptom of degraded peat. As elsewhere in the UK, the degradation of peat on Dartmoor, and the ability of peat to both store carbon and support internationally important plant and animal communities, was - in part - driven by intensive and regular burning at scale.

For this reason, the first Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) schemes in the mid-1990s rightly prohibited burning on Dartmoor’s blanket bogs.  Any commoner wishing for financial support from the taxpayer was required to adhere to this rule. As a result of the retention of this rule in subsequent schemes, Dartmoor’s blanket bogs have been saved from burning for the last thirty years.

Unfortunately, the restriction was introduced too late. By the 1990s, most peat was severely degraded, and Molinia had taken hold, further boosted by increases in atmospheric nitrogen (basically, “fertilizer”). Despite efforts to encourage grazing to control the Molinia (these have not worked for reasons described here), its dominance remains one of the reasons Dartmoor’s protected blanket bogs are classified as being in “unfavourable condition”.

I think most people agree that “something must be done” to tackle the Molinia. However, the history above is important because it helps us understand where the solution might lie. To tackle Molinia, we need to restore and re-wet the peat and reduce Molinia’s competitive advantage. It can then become one plant among many in a well-balanced and healthy peatland ecosystem.  It would be more effective to lead conversations with “the need to restore the peat” rather than “the need to control Molinia” because addressing the first will deal with the second.

Rewetting the peat also neatly tackles another potential problem linked to fire. Over the past few years, there has been much talk about “fuel load” on Dartmoor.  Fuel load is another word for “vegetation” and often “vegetation we don’t much like”.  Basically, fuel load is “stuff that will burn”. Molinia falls in this category, and it is claimed that it is just a massive “wildfire” waiting to happen – because unlike most other grasses, it dies off in winter, dries and becomes like raffia.  

I can understand the concern. However, deterring wildfires is relatively straightforward on the high moor.  Water and fire do not mix.  Therefore, restoring the peat and raising the water table would significantly reduce fire risk on the high moor. It’s frustrating that many of those on Dartmoor who bemoan a high fuel load are often the same people opposed to the peat restoration.

It’s clear that we should significantly increase our ambition to restore Dartmoor’s peatland. This is good for nature and good for people. It’s the only way we’ll stop the 'moor burning from end to end’ (as I’ve regularly heard said by some in the farming community ‘round these parts).

A ban on burning on deep peat was finally included in English legislation recently. Under the Heather and Grass Burning Regulations 2021, it is now illegal to burn on peat over 40cm in depth in protected wildlife sites without a licence from Defra. This includes most of Dartmoor.  However, many scientists and conservationists believe the legislation needs to go further.  Peat is such a valuable resource, and its ability to store carbon is even more vital in the climate emergency. As history shows, functioning peat is seriously compromised by repeated burning, and therefore, an extension of the burning ban to all peat of any depth, whether a protected site or not, is considered urgent.

“Below Bracken there’s Gold” – swaling and the “problem” of Bracken and Gorse

Swaling on areas away from the deep peat of high Dartmoor is not quite as clear-cut. As well as being a potentially useful farming operation, burning can be a useful nature conservation tool, especially where suitable grazing animals are not available.  For example, the precious Culm grasslands of north Devon can be managed with a light quick burn every few years, removing buildup of old vegetation that can smother grassland diversity, and benefiting rare species such as the Marsh Fritillary. However, it’s important, especially in a climate and ecological emergency, to evaluate these sorts of approaches to land management - and make changes if necessary.

On Dartmoor, on the drier slopes of the outer commons, swaling has been restricted for many years, originally due to the same concerns over scale that saw it banned on the high moor.

Here’s the rule:

Under the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council’s Regulations, arising from the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985, no person or local Commoners’ Association shall burn moorland where heather is present on the commons exceeding an area of 9,000 square metres at intervals of less than 12 years, nor where the distance between burns in any one year is less than 150 metres. No person or local Commoners’ Association shall burn moorland where dead grass, bracken or gorse is present on any common land unit over an area exceeding 50 acres (20 hectares) or 25% of the area of that common land unit whichever shall be the less and such burning shall take place at intervals of no less than 3 years.

Much of the swaling carried out this year (March 2025), as in recent years, appears to have targeted gorse and bracken. Commoners are concerned that these plants are, like the Molinia on the high moor, “taking over”.  For a livestock farmer, this does pose a problem because it reduces the grazing area available - hence the commoners' enthusiasm for swaling.  But … is it really “taking over”?  And if it is, is this a problem for nature?

Before answering these questions, the first thing to say is that burning - in itself - does not actually remove bracken and gorse over time.  Indeed, quite the opposite is true – it actually stimulates the regrowth of these species.  But, done regularly, burning does open up areas for stock to access and graze and produces some palatable material to eat (grasses and young gorse shoots). 

That said, let’s look at some facts about the extent of gorse and bracken on Dartmoor. Natural England, in its summary of ecological evidence to the 2023 Independent Review of Protected Sites on Dartmoor, was very clear:

There is little evidence of significant increases in bracken or European gorse cover.

This is borne out, to a degree, in evidence recently published by Dartmoor National Park Authority. In their 2024 State of the Park report, they summarised remote sensing data on habitat extent collected by the University of Exeter. This detailed recent changes: 

The need to “ground-truth” this data should be noted - but nonetheless, given the size of the National Park (95,400ha), these indicative increases and decreases in bracken and gorse cover are really very modest.

Of course, this doesn’t present the dynamic of change over a more extended period.  This map, from the same report, however, does suggest the current extent of bracken and gorse, which again does not look significant at a park scale:

So, bracken and gorse on Dartmoor are neither extensive - nor are there any significant recent increases. However, both are present – as anyone walking the edges of the moor can attest to. In some places, you could reasonably bemoan the “gorse and bracken” – it’s not easy to walk through, and it does harbour ticks and so on.  From a farmer’s perspective, it’s pretty “useless waste,” i.e., it’s not productive.

But is it valuable in terms of nature?  Is there a case for bracken and gorse?  I think there is. Firstly, gorse and bracken scrub can be good for wildlife. The rare High Brown Fritillary butterflies on Dartmoor lay their eggs on bracken leaf litter. There has been some brilliant recent work on the links between bracken and whinchat on Dartmoor. Whinchat is fast declining, and one of the key management recommendations for this bird species is that “Bracken should be maintained as part of a wider field layer mix, with other communities (especially heather and bilberry) encouraged”.

Secondly, author and nature campaigner Guy Shrubsole has explained how bracken is a really good indicator of former oak woodlands, our temperate rainforest. Looking at how bracken on Dartmoor hangs along the sides of the river valleys, it’s very easy to imagine this. Bracken flourishes where better soils are present, giving rise to the old hill farming adage “where there’s bracken there’s gold.” Instead of seeking to burn the bracken, maybe we should have a more hands-off approach and leave it to succeed to woodland gradually.

Precisely the same applies to gorse. That adage continues, “where there’s gorse there’s silver”.  Looking at gorse stands on the Dartmoor commons, it’s clear they already provide a ‘nursery’ function, protecting tree saplings such as rowan. This always reminds me of the wonderful film, Fools and Dreamers. It documents the work of Hugh Wilson and his lifetimes work to bring back New Zealand rainforest, primarily through leaving large stands of gorse to protect sapling trees.  

Then, once the trees have grown, they will shade the ground and, where light cannot penetrate, shade out bracken and gorse – solving that ongoing “fuel load” problem. The great woodland ecologist Oliver Rackham once said that broadleaf woodland “burns like wet asbestos”.  Again, there are places around the moor, small patches, that are quietly succeeding to woodland, and you can see this happening.

For sure, it is not desirable to have woodland all across Dartmoor as this would compromise other internationally important habitats such as the heathlands, all of which are protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). It would also not flourish quite naturally on the deep peat! But there is room for a lot more woodland, especially in the river valleys running down from the high moor. 

If left to its own devices, much land on Dartmoor would naturally scrub up, and over time it would become woodland, with all the consequent benefits to nature and people that woodland would bring. 

However, this huge opportunity is denied through the repeated burning of scrub to provide a little extra grazing for livestock. However, to suggest in many Dartmoor communities that we could ‘just leave it’ feels dangerously radical in the face of this seemingly powerful “tradition” and culture of swaling. What are we denying here? What future are we choosing?

Immediate impacts of burning on nature

The long-term contribution of swaling to the condition of Dartmoor’s protected peatlands and other habitats has already been described. However, wherever it happens, burning land can also have an immediate negative and often fatal impact on wildlife, a concern that people often raise. Commoners respond that burning in March minimises the impact on wildlife, but this is not necessarily the case. 

Does burning cause direct mortality of our native wildlife? The short answer is yes - particularly slow-moving creatures that cannot escape the flames, such as birds in nests or reptiles on a cool, late winter day. 

The period of swaling on Dartmoor was deliberately restricted in order to try and avoid direct damage in this way.  Currently, the “season” runs from 1 October to 31 March, with most being done in March. All sites in agri-environment schemes agreed to that end date to avoid burning ground-nesting birds (those outside schemes can continue burning until 15 April, the national legal end date for moorland burning).

However, due to climate change birds are nesting earlier. A 2024 paper was clear that swaling would cause losses of both Meadow Pipit and Stonechat on Dartmoor - the latter nest building from week 11 (second week of March). For this reason, there’s a good case that the dates need to be changed.

From https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00063657.2024.2307472#d1e589

For background, non of the above is to suggest that swaling in theory is not regulated in any way. You can read the “rules” on the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council website. It’s worth bearing these in mind when you are out and about and swaling is happening and check what you are seeing with what the guidance states. Any issues can then be raised directly with the Commoners’ Council. Also, if you suspect burning is being done on deep peat, then you can send the information to the RSPB via their very handy “burning app”. 

“Wildfires”

In a climate and ecological emergency, should we be burning at all? Many people who manage Dartmoor will, and do, argue that we need to burn now in order to reduce the fuel load and the risk of much bigger “wildfires” that would damage much more nature and release much more carbon. 

The concern about wildfires is well placed. However, it is worth bearing in mind that one of the key causes of wildfires is so-called controlled burns getting “out of control”. In 2020 Natural England published a study of the causes of wildfires. In the data for England they said (my highlight): 

The pattern for the uplands, from fewer fires where a specific source was recorded (n = 62) and overall, differs, with 68% (42) originated from a land management burn, 8% (5) were from camp fires, 8% (5) were caused by children/youths, 6% (4) were from BBQs and 5% (3) from military training. 

In 2023 Devon and Cornwall Fire Service provided me with ten years' worth of data on wildfires in Dartmoor National Park attended by the fire service. This is a graph of the information I was sent:

As you can clearly see, there is a huge peak in March, the month, as currently, when most swaling is done. It could be suggested that one way to effectively reduce fire risk is to not start fires. 

Fire service attending a swale in NE Dartrmoor, 5 March 2025

Conclusion

Historically, swaling has damaged Dartmoor's nature, particularly on the deep peat. As already discussed, there is a clear argument for continuing the ban on burning on deep peat and extending this ban to all peat of any depth. Beyond this, though, fire is still open to misuse and abuse as a tool for land degradation and nature destruction, and burning prevents other potential futures for the land and those species that depend on it. 

Although the extent of current swaling on Dartmoor is mercifully significantly reduced compared to its damaging heyday, the current level of burning still causes more harm than benefit for the long-term future of Dartmoor. 

I hesitate to say that burning should never be used. Away from the peat soils, swaling could be used on occasion - only when there are no reasonable alternatives and only when we’ve considered the actual nature benefits and long-term goals of management of the land in question. The occasional use of swaling on Culm Grasslands, as mentioned above, is a good example.

However, ‘carrying on doing what we do, because we’ve always done swaling on the commons’ will only continue to yield the same damage for both nature and people.