Ecological degradation and lack of livestock population control means a prized area of British countryside is fighting for survival. Now a new court ruling has serious implications for local land custodians, and those in other parts of the country.
Last month the England and Wales High Court handed down a long-awaited judgement on accusations of overgrazing on Dartmoor. At the risk of being overly-reductive, the case centred on environmental charity Wild Justice’s argument that the region had been misused, abused, and was at risk of irreparable ecological damage.
According to the claimant, Dartmoor Commoners Council (DCC) had failed in its responsibility to safeguard this landscape, which, according to Natural England, now suffers poor hydrology due to years of historic peat cutting. The innate ability to drain, and protection against erosion, were therefore severely depleted, while overgrazing and swailing (controlled burning) added more unsustainable pressure.
In response, the Commoners’ defence rested on the fact that grazing was integral to both the historic and ecological character of the moorland. If allowed to grow unchecked, Molina and gorse could accumulate, leading to heightened risk of wildfires. Livestock such as Dartmoor ponies, sheep and cattle play a key role in keeping these potentially dangerous flora under control. Some representatives even went so far as to argue that tighter limits on how many animals should be allowed to graze had led to the spread of undesirable vegetation.
On 17th March, Mr Justice Mould ruled in favour of Wild Justice, although only on one of the grounds. Specifically, he said, DCC had not carried out legally adequate assessments of Dartmoor’s capacity for grazing, and therefore had not met the so-called Tameside principle — a common law requiring any public body or regulator to make every effort to educate itself on all available relevant facts before making a decision. In place since 1977, this regulation effectively ended any chance of legally arguing lack of knowledge or ignorance as an excuse.
‘To rely solely on anecdotal information, as the basis for the defendant’s assessment of the number of animals which may properly be de-pastured on the Commons from time to time is insufficient to fulfil the Defendant’s duty of reasonable inquiry under the Tameside principle,’ explains Judge Mould.
So what does this mean moving forward? And how can this help support parts of Dartmoor which are considered Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England, but nevertheless currently lie in a poor or critical ecological state? How can this help avoid passing tipping points after which restoration and recovery are either unlikely or impossible?
‘Practically speaking, the DCC will need to change the way that it discharges its duties,’ says Richard Broadbent, Environmental lawyer at Freeths. ‘This means that it will need to properly collate data on actual grazing patterns and seasonal use and consider that against Natural England SSSI condition data.
‘It may also need to carry out its own surveys to properly understand the carrying capacity of the commons,’ he adds. ‘It will also need to do this under fresh scrutiny from third parties — such as Wild Justice — to ensure [the DCC] is doing this sufficiently rigorously.’
Meanwhile, those third parties can also now advance further information and perspectives which DCC must take into consideration before conscientiously deciding how to include those details within evidence based land-stewardship. And the ruling has wider implications for other parts of the country, too.
‘The key one is for regulators to make a prior inquiry. In essence, when a public body is given regulatory responsibility it must inform itself properly before deciding not to act,’ Broadbent replies when asked about common law impact of the verdict. ‘Of course, having carried out that proper inquiry the DCC will be entitled to reach its own conclusions as to what regulatory action it should take.
‘[This] common law point has wider application, as in essence it says that any statutory body responsible for permitting activities — in this case grazing controls — must properly inform itself before deciding whether to take regulatory action,’ he continues. ‘In the context of grazing, this means that other statutory bodies with functions like the DCC will need to engage in proper evidence based regulatory or stewardship decisions.’
Examples elsewhere in the country, we’re told, include concerns of overgrazing on Exmoor, and localised heather conditions, and the effects of ponies being kept on land in parts of the Lake District. Similar arguments are also ongoing for the New Forest. Regulatory bodies in all these parts of the country can now expect increased scrutiny and pressure to show robust evidence of comprehensive inquiries carried out in response to any allegations of land misuse and neglect.
The decision will influence other rural activities which critics argue directly lead to ecological degradation. Although even Wild Justice is clear that the ruling, and the organisation’s campaign, are not about putting an end to grazing at scale on Dartmoor, or any other area. The key is making sure judgements at a local level are based on clear evidence and proof, rather than cultural values and perspectives.
‘Uplands like Dartmoor are, in terms of farming, some of the most marginal lands in the UK. Although they cover a large area, the food they produce adds very little to the nation,’ says Bob Elliot, Wild Justice CEO.
‘It’s time to urgently look at the real value of these places to society, especially in terms of nature and carbon, and to tackle head-on the opportunity costs of maintaining the emphasis on farming and status quo,’ he continues. ‘This doesn’t mean don’t graze, it means a closer look at what may be more important in our uplands in terms of societal benefit – especially given the huge amounts the public have paid through their taxes to support farming.’
Image: Veronica White / Unsplash
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