[Diggers350] 85% of Wild Ponies Gone! DEFRA Land Grab Extinguishing 1, 000 Year Old Moorland and Forest Common Rights
Tony Gosling
tony at cultureshop.org.uk
Thu May 30 01:55:14 BST 2024
Natural England Stealth Enclosure: 85% of Wild
Ponies Gone! DEFRA Extinguishing 1,000 Year Old
Moorland and Forest Common Rights
https://tlio.org.uk/85-of-wild-ponies-gone-in-natural-england-enclosure-by-stealth-1000-year-old-forest-and-moorland-common-rights-extinguished-by-natural-england-and-defra/
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May 2024 <https://tlio.org.uk/author/tony/>Tony
Gosling<https://tlio.org.uk/85-of-wild-ponies-gone-in-natural-england-enclosure-by-stealth-1000-year-old-forest-and-moorland-common-rights-extinguished-by-natural-england-and-defra/#respond>Leave
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Why is so much English countryside being taken
out of family hands, out of management and out of access? Private equity lurks
Following a
<https://tlio.org.uk/petition-launched-to-save-dartmoor-ponies-from-extinction-after-defra-again-restricts-commoners/>recent
petition to save the Dartmoor ponies from
potential extinction by DEFRA bureaucratising
common rights, its becoming clear this is by no means an isolated land grab.
Demands to take farming, forest and moorland out
of production by rewilding campaigns is leading
to non-productive land being gleefully snapped up
by multi-billion dollar private equity funds for
carbon offset schemes and, well, whatever they want.
Four articles presented here illustrate DEFRAs
snuffing out some of Englands last remaining
common rights, in the New Forest, Dartmoor and
elsewhere. Then Forestry Englands new programme
to take 20,000 acres out of management is further
evidence of an unannounced government programme
to regulate private owners off the land.
Finally, for now, something similar is happening
across the pond as campaigners are trying to
protect wild horse habitat for in the US which is being eroded.
Do please share your theories, suggestions,
related stories about this common rights
and land grab
and links in the comments at the bottom. Thanks
1. For 800 years, commoners have nurtured the
forest. Now they are being forced out
Rob White March 31, 2024
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/new-forest-commoners-pushed-out-second-homes/>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/new-forest-commoners-pushed-out-second-homes/
Gemma Hobbs began directing ponies around the New
Forest from her grandfathers shoulders when she
was small. Its been a part of her life ever
since she started saving at nine, and bought her first pony aged 11.
Now 16, she has become a commoner, the third
generation to take on this ancient mantle as it
is passed down through families. Several times a
week, she rides into the forest to check on the
animals that roam freely and preserve a National Park.
Emacs!
New Forest commoners are people who live in
properties, rent or own land that have rights of
common attached. Among them are the right to
graze livestock like ponies, cattle and donkeys,
the ability to let out pigs to feed, and to cut
down trees for fuel, although Forestry England
now provides the firewood in order to protect the forest.
In exercising these rights, commoners are crucial
in preserving the forest. Their cattle, ponies
and donkeys eat gorse, grass and other greenery
so animals and plants can thrive. Their pigs
hoover up acorns, saving livestock from internal
bleeding and even death. Without them, it would be a wilderness.
The New Forest ponies and cattle are known as
the architects of the Forest, explains Paul
Walton, of the New Forest National Park
Authority. The commoners have been grazing their
animals on the open Forest since before the
Norman Conquest in 1066, and play a vital role in
maintaining the landscape and rare wildlife which
makes the New Forest so special.
But their way of life is under threat. Because
the right to common is tied to property and the
land itself, the practice is directly affected by
rising house prices and rents, and the influx of
second homeowners. If commoners who have been
there for centuries cant afford to live there, then it can no longer exist.
An ancient right
One night, a neighbour called about a pony who
had given birth. Gemma and her mother immediately
rode in, only to discover an abandoned, orphaned
foal. They adopted Velvet and bottle fed him from birth.
If that was commoning in its purest form, its a
world away from the blindings and beheadings that
these same forest floors bore witness to a millennium before.
At the start of the 11th century, the New Forest
was a dangerous place. William the Conqueror
declared it a Royal Forest in 1071, with a strict
set of laws to ensure nothing interfered with the hunt.
Suddenly, the people whod lived there for
generations could be blinded for the crime of
disturbing a deer. Shooting at one meant being
blinded by law enforcement, while killing one
attracted the death penalty. It was illegal to
gather wood or build a fence, even on your own
property. Centuries of tradition changed overnight.
As the early thirteenth century began, England
was a febrile place under the widely unpopular
King John. In trying to reclaim land hed lost to
the French, he hiked taxes and alienated the rich
landowners he relied on to govern. When Magna
Carta followed in 1215, it couldnt prevent all
out civil war and a legitimate threat to the monarchy.
Emacs!
Following his death a year later, many landowners
switched sides to back King Henry III, who was
just nine when he inherited the throne. A plan
was needed for rural England and in 1217 the
Charter of the Forest arrived and New Forest commoning began.
It would be another seven centuries before these
ancient rights were even updated and they remain
in place today. There are now around 650
commoners, with Gemma among the latest recruits.
My grandparents and parents were commoners, so
it started through that, she says. I remember
sitting on my grandads shoulders, waving my arms
and directing ponies so they didnt run us over.
She looks in on the ponies every few days, then
in the autumn helps round them all up, check
their collars, get their tails trimmed and give
them a routine health check. It means she has
little time for the usual socialising and hobbies of a 16-year-old.
Animals get the time most of the time, she
says. Its unpredictable when you have animals
out in the forest, particularly when we have sick
animals. Thats twice a day every day, making it
a priority. Commoning is more of a lifestyle than just a hobby.
Its an ever-changing, sometimes harsh
environment. So far, shes had a pony, Duchess,
go missing two years later she still hasnt
been found. Velvet, the orphaned foal, turned out
to have a sibling, so they now have Whizz for company too.
Her mother, Sally Marsh, says shes delighted to
see Gemma following in the tradition.
Its lovely. Obviously I had a big passion for
it as a child. You never know with the kids these
days. With social media, the world has changed so
much, but its still in the blood and from an
early age, shes wanted to be on a pony and help.
The threat to commoning
Commoners rights are irrevocably tied to houses
and land, but that is what is putting their
lifestyle at risk. Wealthier people are now
moving to the area and buying the land and
property. In doing so, they take it away from
commoners but have no intention of commoning themselves.
The average house price in the New Forest is over
£600,000, higher than in any other National Park.
According to Rightmove, the average rent is over
£1,600 a month. Many commoners see this as an existential threat.
Andrew Parry-Norton, chair of the Commoners
Defence Association (CDA) and a commoner himself, is one of them.
Were facing money coming down from London,
paying £42,000 to £45,000 an acre. That means
properties of over a million pounds. These new
people arent going to common and most wouldnt
even understand how to look after the land.
For younger generations of commoners [who
inherit land and property], the temptation is
there to take the money. Unless we can offer them
a financially viable future, with properties they
can afford, theyre not going to stay and do this.
This isnt a new problem the CDA itself was set
up in 1909 in response to people coming to the area wanting to buy land.
All the commoners got together as it was a
collective problem, he adds. Theres nothing
like a collective enemy to bring people together.
Its like a trade union to preserve commoning and their rights.
Its a constant battle, but its our livelihood
and it creates what we see in the landscape of the forest right now.
An accidental commoner
Dr Gale Pettifer is also a commoner, albeit
inadvertently. When she bought her property in
2012, she didnt realise it had common rights
until she saw the deeds. Shes enjoyed it so much
since that shes completed a PhD on the politics
of inclosure in the New Forest.
This is a completely different way of
interacting with livestock, she says. You cant
pet them, so I know my ponies, they dont
necessarily know me. Lots of my friends ask
whats the point, but its about the conservation
of the New Forest and carrying on the tradition.
I absolutely love it. Its taken over my life.
She agrees that commoning is facing challenges
and its part of the reason shes joined in
It is hugely under threat from the encroachment
of leisure and recreation. It was primarily a
working landscape; now theres more and more
pressure to become profitable with more and more
leisure activities. Housebuilding brings
pressures, more cars, more speeding, more pony deaths.
I realised there must be other properties like
mine, and people buy them and dont exercise
these rights. If I dont, thats how these things
get lost, the rights and the knowledge.
Inevitably, house prices are part of the conversation.
If youre on an average income, youve got no
chance of buying anything in the Forest.
That is vital to the preservation of commoning,
because the rights are linked to property and
land: once you sell up or leave, you relinquish
your rights. There are programmes such as the
Commoners Dwelling Scheme, which allows genuine
commoners the right to apply to build a home
outside the New Forest and carry on commoning.
She adds: If you want to save the forest, you
have to save the commoners. If the commoners are
under threat, so is the forest.
As part of the next generation, its a very real
fear for Gemma. She wants to set up on her own
one day, but worries she wont be able to.
Thats the goal, but its really impossible. The
prices have gone up because of Covid and people
having second homes. Younger generations are more
involved as theyve grown up, but the price of
land and housing has become extortionate.
Its always been part of my life, it would be like a big chunk of me missing.
Sally says the family could only afford their
current property because of the Governments Right to Buy scheme.
Its growing increasingly frustrating for us.
The bugbear is people from London and Cheshire
buying these second homes which they barely use
and using paddocks as glorified gardens. Bit by
bit the forest has been eaten away. None of it
would be here without the commoners.
I havent got the money to buy these places and
we cant compete. Commoners are becoming a rare
breed, like the ponies, because were being forced out of it.
Priced out
The idea of a local tradition under threat from
rising house prices isnt unique to the New
Forest. Young people in Cornish towns like
Newlyn, St Mawes and Padstow are being priced out
of their home towns, putting older industries like fishing at serious risk.
Its a familiar story an influx of tourists
leads to the purchase of seaside boltholes and
money-spinning holiday lets, pricing the locals
out and leaving age-old traditions on life support.
Tim Bonner, CEO of the Countryside Alliance, says
rising property prices is one of the
countrysides biggest drivers in social change.
Incomers can have a positive impact on the local
economy, but increased demand for rural housing
has created an affordability crisis in some
areas. This is not just about the increased cost
of housing, but also rural wages which remain
stubbornly low. The result is that young people
in particular cannot afford to live in the
communities that they were born and brought up in.
Back in the New Forest, rising house prices may
be both a past and present danger, but another
ominously clouds the horizon of post-Brexit
Britain. In the EU, commoners were paid annually
for every animal under the Basic Payment Scheme.
It was around £200, but it has already been
halved, and will keep falling until 2026 when it stops completely.
There are options for future funding, but not
until 2028 and it will still depend on a
consensus between various groups with a stake in
the forest. Even if a solution is found, theres
a two-year funding gap to survive.
Seemingly under threat from all sides, can
commoning survive? Andrew is convinced it can, and that it will.
Commoners are resilient and we will get through
this. We turn a negative into a positive, like
when they built the A31 through the middle of the
forest. Now, if disease breaks out among the
animals, you have a barrier between the two sides and we can contain it.
He adds: I dont feel therell be many full time
commoners left, but people will carry on. Weve
got some who are nurses or lawyers and keep a few
ponies and cows as a hobby. And there are also
die-hard commoners who will work in a factory if
they have to, just to subsidise their commoning.
However, he does say it needs to be monetised.
The Government should pay for it. But when
people pay for something, they appreciate it
more. If people had to make a contribution to
visit here, not much, just 50p or £1, that ought
to be put back into the forest.
Emacs!
2. Petition launched to save the Dartmoor Hill Pony as 85% in two decades
Campaigners worry if no action is taken, the
Dartmoor Hill Pony could become extinct
<https://www.change.org/p/save-the-dartmoor-hill-pony-last-chance>Ella
Sampson 05 Apr 2024 Petition website
https://www.themoorlander.co.uk/news/home/1466616/petition-launched-to-save-the-dartmoor-hill-pony.html
A plea to preserve the Dartmoor Hill Pony has
gained significant momentum as a petition garners close to 100,000 signatures.
Emacs!
The petition, titled Save the Dartmoor Hill Pony,
was launched by concerned campaigners.
It urges the government to intervene and halt the
alarming decline in the population of Dartmoor
Hill Ponies, a distinct breed known for their
resilience and adaptability to the rugged terrain of Dartmoor in Devon.
Campaigners have stated that if no action is
taken, the breed is at risk of extinction.
Shockingly, statistics reveal that two decades
ago, there were approximately 7,000 Dartmoor Hill
ponies grazing the moors, but today, only around 1,000 remain.
Charlotte Faulkner, representing the Dartmoor
Hill Pony Association, expressed grave concern
saying: The Semi Wild Pony are unlike any other
ponies in the world, their rare genetics enable
them to thrive and survive on Dartmoor in all
weathers. If the ponies are gone, so much more
will be lost, impossible to replicate what we have now.
She also said: As the dodo was the wrong animal
in the wrong place at the wrong time, it became
extinct. The ponies are the right animal in the
right place so lets make sure they do not become extinct.
The petition calls upon the Department for
Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to
ensure that Natural England refrains from taking
any actions that could further diminish the
Dartmoor Hill Pony population, echoing
recommendations from an independent review.
The petition stresses the urgent need for
protective measures to safeguard these cherished animals.
Recent developments within DEFRA have shed light
on the governments recognition of the Dartmoor
Hill Pony Association as the official breeders
association for the semi-wild Dartmoor Hill Pony population.
The association has been carefully compiling a
register of Dartmoor Hill Ponies on the commons,
with over 700 ponies already registered,
microchipped, and undergoing genetic testing.
Furthermore, in late 2023, DEFRA acknowledged the
endangered status of the Semi-wild Dartmoor Hill
Ponies, adding them to the Native At-Risk list.
The Dartmoor Review, published in late 2023,
emphasised the genetic importance of Dartmoors
pony population and highlighted the necessity of
conservation grazing. Recommendations from the
review stress the need for protective policies to
prevent further decline in Dartmoor Hill Pony numbers.
3. More than 8,000 hectares left to nature
under new forest management approach
<https://www.standard.co.uk/news/environment/northumberland-dorset-north-yorkshire-somerset-government-b1158820.html>https://www.standard.co.uk/news/environment/northumberland-dorset-north-yorkshire-somerset-government-b1158820.html
Forestry England said the nature restoration
project will be rolled out across areas in
Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Dorset and Somerset.
<https://www.standard.co.uk/news/environment/northumberland-dorset-north-yorkshire-somerset-government-b1158820.html>Rebecca
Speare-Cole 20 May 2024
More than 8,000 hectares of land will be left to
nature as part of a new forest management
approach to boost wildlife and biodiversity.
Forestry England, which manages more than 250,000
hectares of land across the country, said the
restoration project will be rolled out in areas of four forests.
Emacs!
The land managers will carry out a mix of
activities to help nature recover in Kielder
Forest in Northumberland, Newtondale in North
Yorkshire, Purbeck in Dorset and Neroche in Somerset.
Andrew Stringer, Forestry Englands head of
environment, said: We will intervene less in
these four wild areas, giving nature the time and
space to reshape the forest landscape.
We are confident that whatever happens these
areas will become more nature-rich, with benefits for neighbouring landscapes
The Kielder Forest, the biggest new wild area,
covering at least 6,000 hectares, will be
restored to a fully-functioning upland ecosystem,
with the expansion of native woodland and scrub
and the creation of more open habitats like
peatland and natural water courses, the organisation said.
Other activities in the areas could include
reintroducing lost wildlife including
butterflies, rare plants, pine martens and
beavers as well as wild cattle or moving fungi to restore soil.
The areas will welcome visitors but will continue
to be a source of sustainable timber through an
innovative model of productive forestry, Forestry England added.
There is an exciting unpredictability about this
work in our four wild areas, Mr Stringer said.
We simply dont know exactly how each of them
will change over time or the detail of what they will look like.
But this uncertainty is a positive part of being
experimental and allowing natural processes to
shape each landscape in the years ahead.
We are confident that whatever happens these
areas will become more nature-rich, with benefits for neighbouring landscapes.
He added that forestry will still be an
essential activity but that over time the
benefits of less intervention will be enormous
in terms of climate resilience, reversing
biodiversity loss, providing greater natural
capital benefits to society such as natural flood
mitigation, soil health, air quality and carbon storage.
Forestry England said the project is being funded
by the Government and Forest Holidays and its
teams will work alongside nature restoration and
scientific data-gathering experts to analyse progress.
The soil eDNA baseline data gathered in all four
wild areas will be free to access as part of
Forestry Englands commitment to open data
sharing, collaboration and building a strong
evidence base for wilding activities, the organisation said.
4. ACT NOW: Tell Congress to Support Wild Horse
and Burro Protection Reforms in 2023
<https://americanwildhorse.org/act-now-tell-congress-support-wild-horse-and-burro-protection-reforms-2023-0>https://americanwildhorse.org/act-now-tell-congress-support-wild-horse-and-burro-protection-reforms-2023-0
Late last year, U.S. House Natural Resources
Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D, AZ-03) and
U.S. Representatives David Schweikert (R, AZ-06),
Joe Neguse (D, CO-02), Steve Cohen (D, TN-09),
Dina Titus (D, NV-01), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R,
PA-01) introduced a comprehensive bipartisan
bill, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros
Protection Act of 2022 (H.R. 9154), which would
protect wild horses and burros from slaughter,
prioritize their humane management, restore
western habitat, promote partnerships with
American veterans and nonprofit organizations,
and increase transparency within the Bureau of
Land Managements (BLM) and U.S. Forest Services
(USFS) Wild Horse and Burro Programs.
Emacs!
This bill promoted much-needed humane,
commonsense, and fiscally responsible reforms
that would stop the endless cycle of removals and
keep these beloved symbols of freedom in the wild
where they belong. While we work to ensure this
legislation is again introduced in 2023, please
take a moment to keep the pressure on your U.S.
Representative by asking them to support
messaging in line with 2022s H.R. 9154, the Wild
Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Protection Act!
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