Mr Mark Owen

Appointed By: Secretary of State for the Environment

Address: Challacombe Farm Postbridge Yelverton Devon PL20 6TD

Telephone: 01822 880236

Email: Mark.Owen@dartmoor.gov.uk

Committees and Panels:
National Park Authority; Development Management Committee; Park Management Working Panel; Dartmoor Access Forum

Biographical Details

Mark grew up in Torquay and developed an early love for Dartmoor through Ten Tors and letterboxing. He met his wife, Naomi Oakley, at Seale Hayne College / University of Plymouth and together they manage Challacombe Farm, an organic, nature friendly and certified regenerative Duchy of Cornwall farm near Widecombe.

Prior to taking on the farm tenancy, Mark spent twenty years managing the South West Coast Path and other public rights of way, with a common theme of working to encourage people to explore and appreciate the countryside. This interest continues, and more recently he has worked with Tamar Valley AONB to develop the Tamara Coast to Coast Way and Exmoor National Park to audit and promote stile free routes.

Alongside promoting public access, he has a passion for nature conservation, and how farming (particularly use of grazing animals) can play an important role in managing habitats and landscapes to improve biodiversity. As Secretary of the Central Dartmoor Farm Cluster Community Interest Company he is working with 9 other farms on a common aim of making their farms richer in wildlife whilst remaining financially sustainable.