For more than 3,500 years, Dartmoor’s iconic ponies have roamed the rugged landscape of southwest England.
They survived the Bronze Age, the Norman Conquest, the Industrial Revolution and two world wars. Yet today, many campaigners fear their greatest threat comes not from nature, but from government policy.
The controversy centres on grazing restrictions proposed through agreements involving Natural England and Defra. Commoners on Dartmoor have warned that significant reductions in livestock numbers could have devastating consequences for the already endangered Dartmoor Hill Pony, one of Britain’s oldest native breeds.
This is not simply a sentimental argument about preserving a familiar sight on the moor. It is a genuine conservation issue.
Dartmoor’s Hill Ponies face extinction. They need YOUR help now. SIGN THE PETITION HERE.
In 2023, the Dartmoor Hill Pony was placed on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust Watchlist as an endangered breed. The figures are stark. Numbers have fallen from around 7,000 animals in 1999 to approximately 1,000 today. For a breed that has been part of the landscape for millennia, those numbers should ring alarm bells in Whitehall.
If ministers are serious about protecting biodiversity and preserving Britain’s natural heritage, it is difficult to understand why one of the country’s oldest native breeds appears to be under such pressure.
Campaigners argue that current grazing proposals risk accelerating the breed’s decline by treating ponies in the same way as commercial livestock when calculating stocking levels. If implemented without adjustment, they fear the result could be a drastic reduction in pony numbers across the moor.
What makes this particularly troubling is that Defra’s own independent review appears to support many of their concerns.
The 2023 Fursdon Review, commissioned by Defra to examine the future management of Dartmoor, explicitly recognised the unique role played by the ponies. It recommended that ponies and cattle should not be linked when calculating stocking rates and warned against actions likely to reduce pony numbers.
That recommendation did not come from campaigners or politicians. It came from a review commissioned by the Government itself.
When ministers seek expert advice, only to ignore key findings when they prove inconvenient, legitimate questions must be asked.
Critics of traditional grazing often portray livestock as part of the environmental problem. Yet many ecologists acknowledge that grazing animals have helped create and maintain some of Britain’s most treasured landscapes.
Dartmoor is not untouched wilderness. It is a living, working landscape, shaped over centuries by commoners, farmers, livestock and wildlife existing together. The open vistas, rich habitats and distinctive character that visitors admire today did not emerge by accident. They are the result of generations of careful stewardship.
The National Farmers’ Union has repeatedly argued that upland farmers play a vital role not only in food production but also in supporting biodiversity, maintaining habitats and sustaining rural communities. The organisation has warned against simplistic policies that fail to recognise the realities of managing fragile upland environments.
There is also growing frustration among those who live and work on Dartmoor that decisions affecting the future of the moor are increasingly being driven by distant regulators and campaign groups rather than local knowledge.
That does not mean environmental concerns should be dismissed. Far from it.
Protecting peatlands, improving water quality and preserving biodiversity are important objectives. But conservation policy succeeds only when it works alongside the people who know the land best.
The commoners of Dartmoor are not opponents of conservation. They are among the longest-serving custodians of the landscape. Many families have managed grazing rights on the moor for generations, passing down knowledge that cannot be learned from reports or policy papers.
Recent legal battles have only deepened concerns.
In 2025, campaign group Wild Justice brought a High Court challenge against the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council. While one aspect of the case relating to environmental assessment succeeded, the court dismissed seven of the eight grounds advanced by the claimants. The outcome reinforced the view held by many local people that the commoners are too often portrayed unfairly in debates about the future of the moor.
Credit should be given where it is due. Environmental campaigners have helped draw attention to genuine conservation challenges across Britain and have successfully highlighted issues that might otherwise have been ignored.
However, conservation becomes self-defeating when policies designed to protect nature end up threatening one of Britain’s rarest native breeds.
Charlotte Faulkner of Friends of the Dartmoor Hill Pony has warned of the irony that, in the name of environmental protection, Britain could lose one of the last truly free-roaming native pony populations in the country.
It is a warning that deserves to be heard.
The Dartmoor pony is not simply another grazing animal. It is a living symbol of England’s rural heritage, woven into the history, folklore and identity of the moor itself.
Once lost, it cannot simply be recreated.
The reality is that the debate extends beyond Dartmoor. It raises a broader question about how Britain approaches conservation.
Do we trust those who have managed these landscapes for generations, or do we place our faith entirely in top-down directives that often fail to account for local realities?
The answer should be obvious.
Government should heed the recommendations of its own Fursdon Review, recognise the unique status of the Dartmoor Hill Pony and ensure that grazing policies do not inadvertently drive an endangered breed closer to extinction.
Because if Britain cannot protect an animal that has survived on these islands for three and a half thousand years, despite invasions, wars, industrialisation and social change, future generations may reasonably ask how a modern state, armed with all its expertise and resources, managed to succeed where history failed.
The Dartmoor pony deserves better. So does Dartmoor itself.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
Dartmoor’s Hill Ponies face extinction. They need YOUR help now. ADD YOUR NAME TO THE PETITION HERE.
If you share our concerns about the future of the Dartmoor Hill Pony, please consider adding your name to the letter organised by Conservative campaigner James Wright, which calls on the Government to pause these proposals and commission an independent review before irreversible damage is done. Wright argues that the proposed grazing contracts could remove up to 90 per cent of Dartmoor’s hill ponies from the moor, with similar concerns being raised for Exmoor in the future. https://www.james-wright.org.uk/news/save-our-moorland-ponies-sign-letter
The Great British PAC is closely monitoring developments on Dartmoor. If campaign groups or other interested parties believe these proposals may be open to legal challenge, we would welcome hearing from them. Britain cannot afford to stand by while one of its oldest native breeds is pushed closer to extinction. Those wishing to discuss the issue can contact the Great British PAC to explore what options may be available. Claire.Bullivant@GreatBritishPAC.com
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