New Natural England assessments reveal the appalling condition of Dartmoor’s Protected Sites
- Tony Whitehead
- May 24
- 10 min read
Tony Whitehead
Without so much as a whisper publicly, Natural England this week updated its assessment of Dartmoor’s protected sites, the three big Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) that cover Dartmoor's commons. The new assessments covered 22,494ha - 24% of the whole National Park - and are based on an extensive survey by Natural England in 2024.
It is not a pretty picture.
To summarise, every designated feature assessed is in unfavourable condition, with the exception of two tiny “soakaways” in East and North Dartmoor. That’s all Dartmoor’s blanket bogs, wet heaths, and dry heaths. And worse still, many are declining in condition.
Regarding the individual SSSI units (subdivisions of the whole), if you look at those newly assessed only 26ha of 22,494ha are in favourable condition. If you compare that with the previous assessments of those same units, that’s a significant drop from a still dismal 914ha in favourable condition. Notably, the land area in unfavourable declining condition has doubled from 1,527ha to 3,178ha.
You can read the assessments for the designated features and the units of each SSSI here, here and here.
Despite many millions of pounds of public investment in Dartmoor over the past three decades, Dartmoor’s commons remain in appalling condition. This begs two crucial questions - what exactly has the taxpayer paid for? And secondly, with agri-environment schemes (Higher Level Stewardship) currently being extended, what are we going to be paying for?
At the inaugural meeting of the new Dartmoor Land Use Management group in January, a local Natural England Officer said that NE would “very shortly be communicating with HLS agreement holders, offering two-year extensions to current agreements subject to some potential ‘tweaks’ to management plans".
Potential tweaks? Given the appalling state of the commons, it would not be unreasonable to demand a little more than possible “tweaks” to schemes that have so singularly failed to deliver more nature, and in many cases simply paid for decline. Surely we should be asking for wholesale reform?
Or perhaps we should not be paying any more taxpayers’ money to Dartmoor commons schemes that have so obviously failed, and spend it instead where it could make a genuine difference.
To be clear - this is not a criticism of all agri-environmnet schemes per se or of ambitious farmers that use the investment wisely to deliver for nature. We know that many farmers on Dartmoor are keen for change - support for the Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery scheme is an example. But the fact remains, that the taxpayers must see a return on their investment and begin to see nature restored rather than in decline.
With these questions in mind, here’s a background and summary of the assessments.
Background
The majority of Dartmoor’s common land is notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The first designations of SSSI on Dartmoor were in 1952 with further designation in 1976. The current suite of SSSIs were designated in 1987 and 1989 with renotification and extension of the original sites under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.
SSSI selection is based on the presence of the particular features of interest. It operates on a principle of establishing a network of sites representing in total those parts of Great Britain in which the features of nature are most highly concentrated or of highest value.
These large upland SSSIs recognised the importance of Dartmoor’s blanket bogs and heathland, based on a national listing of ‘near natural’ or semi-natural’ special sites first developed in 1947. The rationale for notification was to notify a large area to include examples of vegetation types that are distinct from other parts of Britain.
The vegetation of Dartmoor is of particular interest for its extensive areas of internationally important blanket bog and some of the best areas of wet heath in England. These wet and predominantly western communities occur alongside equally important dry heath.
There are three SSSIs covering the commons:
East Dartmoor SSSI (211.36 ha) was first notified in 1976 and notified under the 1981 Act in 1987 with amendments to the boundary including extensions and deletions.
South Dartmoor (9,668.2 ha) was notified in 1952, revised in 1976 and notified under the 1981 Act in 1989, with amendments to the boundary including extensions and deletions. The SSSI name has been changed from Central South Dartmoor. The site now includes High-house Waste, formerly part of Hawn's Wood and High House Moor SSSI (now Dendles Wood SSSI). Part of the site notified initially in 1951 has since been re-notified as part of the Holne Woodlands SSSI.
North Dartmoor (13,413 ha) was notified in 1952, revised in 1976 and notified under the 1981 Act in 1989, with amendments to the boundary including extensions and deletions. The extensions include the formerly separate Gidleigh Common SSSI and Black Tor Copse Forest Nature Reserve.
Monitoring SSSI Condition
SSSI condition was not objectively assessed when the Dartmoor SSSIs were notified in the 1950’s. Selection was based on the presence of key features rather than their condition.
At the time of the notification under the Wildlife and Countryside Act in the 1980s, it was recognized that a large proportion of the Dartmoor's SSSIs supported degraded examples of habitat. However, these were the best examples available and were sufficiently intact to be of special interest. A potential for recovery was recognised.
The objective assessment of SSSI condition, referred to as Common Standards Monitoring (CSM), was introduced in 1998 (JNCC 2004). Natural England is responsible for assessing the condition of all SSSIs using CSM.
Using the CSM methodology, Natural England produces a Monitoring Specification (aka Favourable Condition Tables), which sets the attributes and targets used to assess the current state of each designated site feature.
On Dartmoor the designated features of the SSSI are: Blanket Bogs and Valley Bogs, Wet Heaths, Acid Grassland, Subalpine Dwarf Shrub Heath, Soakaways and Sumps and Short Sedge Acidic Fen.
The Monitoring Specifications for the three Dartmoor SSSIs can be found here:
The data collected through CSM surveys then defines the following categories, which are used to describe the condition of the SSSI:
Favourable - The designated feature is being adequately conserved.
Unfavourable recovering - The feature is not yet fully conserved but the necessary actions to achieve favourable condition have either been identified and recorded, or at least one action underway or no actions behind schedule
Unfavourable no change - The feature is not being conserved. It will not reach favourable condition unless there are changes to the management or external pressures. The longer the feature remains in this poor condition, the more difficult it will be, in general, to achieve recovery.
Unfavourable declining - The feature is not being conserved and will not reach favourable condition unless there are changes to management or external pressures. The feature condition is becoming progressively worse. The longer the feature remains in this poor condition, the more difficult it will be, in general, to achieve recovery.
In addition to detailing the site's condition using the above categories, CSM also identifies the pressures and threats to designated features evident in the collected data. These are those things driving a designated feature into unfavourable condition.
In the 2024 Dartmoor survey, “Whole feature assessments” were introduced to assess the condition of designated features (eg Blanket Bogs etc) across the whole of the SSSIs.
The Results
The following summarises the condition of each key feature:
Table 1: Condition of SSSI Designated Features:
SSSI | Designated Feature | Condition 2024 |
|---|---|---|
South Dartmoor SSSI | Acid Grassland | Unfavourable Declining |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Acid Grassland | Unfavourable No Change |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Acid Grassland / Dry Heath Mosaic | Unfavourable Declining |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Blanket and Valley Bogs | Unfavourable Declining |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Blanket and Valley Bogs | Unfavourable No Change |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Blanket and Valley Bogs | Unfavourable Declining |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Short Sedge Acidic Fen | Unfavourable No Change |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Short Sedge Acidic Fen | Unfavourable No Change |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Short Sedge Acidic Fen | Unfavourable Declining |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Soakaway and Sump | Favourable |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Soakaway and Sump | Favourable |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Soakaway and Sump | Unfavourable Declining |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Subalpine dwarf shrub heath | Unfavourable Declining |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Subalpine dwarf shrub heath | Unfavourable No Change |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Subalpine dwarf shrub heath | Unfavourable Declining |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Wet Heath | Unfavourable Declining |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Wet Heath | Unfavourable No Change |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Wet Heath | Unfavourable Declining |
In terms of whole features, only the very small soakaways and sumps in East and North Dartmoor were found to be in Favourable Condition.
Every other designated feature is in unfavourable condition, which means that “the feature is not being conserved” and “It will not reach favourable condition unless there are changes to the management or external pressures.”
Ten features are in declining condition, which means their condition is becoming progressively worse, and “the longer the feature remains in this poor condition, the more difficult it will be, in general, to achieve recovery.”
Comparison by Unit with Previous Condition
The assessment also looked at individual SSSI - subdivisions of the whole SSSIs. There’s much to look at here, and we’ll come back to this. Looking at individual units and knowing their area allows us to compare the current condition with the previous condition. The latest assessments included all units across all three SSSI’s with the exception of North Dartmoor Unit 91, Blackator Copse and South Dartmoor Unit 3 Foxtor Mire.
Of the total area assessed, only three units, amounting to 26ha were found to be in Favourable Condition. Overall the area of units in favourable condition has fallen from 914ha previously. Notably, the area of land in unfavourable declining condition has increased from 1,527ha to 3,178ha.
Pressures
The table below summarises the key pressures.
The first thing to note is how many times overgrazing is listed as a pressure. It is clear that this still remains a key issue for Dartmoor. Alongside this, undergrazing is listed on a number of occasions, where it is linked to the dominance of the Purple Moor Grass, aka “Molinia”.
This is interesting because it can be argued that the Molinia dominance is a symptom of the degraded condition of the peat. However, grazing could be part of the solution - but as is known, there are questions about getting cattle into the right places to do this work in the periods when it is palatable.
“Weeds and inappropriate species” is also mentioned on a number of occasions. This is often related to gorse and bracken, but also to the spread of young conifers that have “escaped” from the large plantations. This is also interesting - gorse and bracken can be important in themselves, as nurseries for scrub and woodland development. Or in the case of bracken, as an important habitat in itself for some butterflies and for birds such as Whinchat. But the point is, that in excess these can indeed impact on key features, and this needs careful consideration.
Lastly, note that “managed burning” (“swaling”) is recorded as a pressure on the dwarf shrub heath in south Dartmoor. As said elsewhere, swaling is a significant issue for the future of Dartmoor's wildlife and habitats.
Table 2: Pressures on SSSI Designated Features
SSSI | Designated Feature | Condition 2025 | Pressure |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Acid Grassland | Unfavourable Declining | Land management – Over grazing should be recorded as a pressure for this interest feature. Land management (scrub encroachment and inappropriate species) should be recorded as a pressure for this interest feature. |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Acid Grassland | Unfavourable No Change | Land Management – Over grazing should be monitored and recorded as a pressure for this interest feature |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Acid Grassland / Dry Heath Mosaic | Unfavourable Declining | Land management – Over grazing and Weeds / Inappropriate species would be recorded as a pressure for this habitat if it was a feature of the SSSI. |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Blanket and Valley Bogs | Unfavourable Declining | Land management, in particular over and under grazing, should be recorded as a pressure for the blanket bog interest feature. |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Blanket and Valley Bogs | Unfavourable No Change | Land Management – Over and Under grazing should be included as a pressure |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Blanket and Valley Bogs | Unfavourable Declining | Land management, in particular over and under grazing, should be recorded as a pressure for the blanket bog interest feature. |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Short Sedge Acidic Fen | Unfavourable No Change | Land management – Weeds / Inappropriate species and under grazing should be recorded as a pressure. |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Short Sedge Acidic Fen | Unfavourable No Change | Land management – Weeds / Inappropriate species should be recorded as a pressure |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Short Sedge Acidic Fen | Unfavourable Declining | Land management – Weeds / Inappropriate species should be recorded as a pressure. Land management -Over grazing should be recorded as a pressure for this interest feature. |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Subalpine dwarf shrub heath | Unfavourable Declining | Land management – over grazing and Weeds / Inappropriate species will be recorded as pressures to achieving favourable condition for subalpine dwarf shrub heath interest feature. |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Subalpine dwarf shrub heath | Unfavourable No Change | Land management – Over grazing should be recorded as a pressure for subalpine dwarf shrub heath. |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Subalpine dwarf shrub heath | Unfavourable Declining | Land management – over grazing and Fire – Managed burning will be recorded as pressures to achieving favourable condition for subalpine dwarf shrub heath interest feature. |
East Dartmoor SSSI | Wet Heath | Unfavourable Declining | Land management – Over Grazing should be recorded as a pressure for this interest feature. |
North Dartmoor SSSI | Wet Heath | Unfavourable No Change | Land management- over grazing should be recorded as a pressure for this interest feature. |
South Dartmoor SSSI | Wet Heath | Unfavourable Declining | Land management – Over and Under Grazing should be recorded as a pressure for this interest feature. |
Conclusions
This is the briefest summary of the data - there is much more to return to, not least further analysis of the condition of individual site units.
These assessments of 'protected' sites have revealed their appalling condition. In many places, the trend is one of decline.
The pressures listed reveal clearly that grazing remains a key issue. In many places, the evidence from Natural England shows that overgrazing continues to hold back recovery, particularly of heathland. In others, lack of grazing, especially by cattle, is allowing the Purple Moor grass on blanket bogs to further flourish on areas suffering the historic eroding effects of excessive burning and overgrazing.
Over twenty years, millions of pounds of public money have been invested in restoring Dartmoor’s commons, and it has produced no change whatsoever, and in some places it’s got worse. What’s particularly galling is that we know, elsewhere, investing in nature restoration can deliver.
We are in a nature and climate crisis. Dartmoor should be playing its part - but these shameful results show how much we need to start putting nature first in this special and much-loved landscape. And think very carefully how public money, our money, is invested in this place.
We cannot keep funding failure.
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