Dartmoor’s Dynamic Landscapes is a partnership programme with an exciting vision to create more naturally resilient landscapes, to enable better understanding and to connect people more sustainably to their place.

Who are we?

Dartmoor's Dynamic Landscapes is a partnership bringing the Authority together alongside Dartmoor Hill Farm Project, Emergency Exit Arts & Flock South West, the Environment Agency (for Dartmoor Headwaters), RSPB, Shallowford Trust, South West Water (for South West Peatland Partnership), Sustrans, Westcountry Rivers Trust and the Woodland Trust.

The partnership has a landscape focus on Dartmoor’s river catchments of the Okement, the Dart and the Erme & Yealm. These are some of the moor's best places: moorland bogs, grassland, wetland, wooded valleys, and riverside settlements that act as ‘gateways’ to the National Park. The programme also has a particular focus on the communities of Okehampton, Princetown and Ivybridge.

Following development work, we were thrilled to be awarded more than £3.1million grant funding by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver our aims from 2025 to 2030.

Our aims

To create more naturally resilient landscapes, we will work with land managers and farmers to:

• Have a better understanding of grassland and river habitats, moorland birds, and ancient trees.
• Capture more water and carbon through natural flood management, peatland restoration and restoration of ancient woodland sites.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing through mentoring opportunities and events.

Help deepen community connections to their place, with a specific focus on Ivybridge, Okehampton and Princetown. We will:

• Improve access and route knowledge in and from the towns to enable active travel to green spaces.
• Celebrate landscape heritage, for example through a programme of river and moorland festivals.
• Explore opportunities for community grant funding.

Projects we will deliver

Dartmoor’s Dynamic Landscapes is an holistic programme of 15 projects, grouped according to two themes:

1. Dynamic Nature: aiming to build understanding of nature and working towards a more naturally resilient landscape. This theme comprises nine projects

2. Connecting Communities: designed to enable people to meaningfully connect and to do so more sustainably, with their place; levelling-up access and opportunity for rural communities and the three Gateway towns. This theme comprises six projects.

Supporting themes are:

Partnership working: a coordinated approach and increasing impact through collaboration.

Central supporting work: impact measurement and adaptive management; central branding and communications alongside project delivery and management support.

Project overviews

Understanding Grasslands: train land managers to survey their own grassland and will link to other land management projects, including the Hillfarm Hub, Headwaters, Hall Farm and Farm to City.

Understanding Rivers: the Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) will recruit, train and support a network of volunteers and volunteer coordinators to undertake water quality and biological monitoring in the DDL focus rivers.  This project will work alongside Bike It Moor, jointly approaching a schools and family audience, WRT will also attend the River & Moorland Festivals.

Understanding Moorland Birds - aims to help land managers and owners across the Commons and Newtakes understand more about the birds on their land

Dartmoor’s Ancient Tree Hunt: work with local communities to raise awareness about and encourage people to survey and record Ancient and Veteran Trees. The Woodland Trust will collaborate with other partners engaging young people.

Hall Farm: demonstrate to farmers how woods and trees can be integrated into the farmed landscape and business.  The project links to other land management projects, Hillfarm Hub, Headwaters and Farm to City.

Wood n’ Moor: aim to combine the restoration of peatland and ancient woodland for mutual benefit by using the timber, which is a by-product of ancient woodland restoration, to restore the peat.  The project links with Hillfarm Hub and peatland restoration.

Peatland Restoration: the South West Peatland Partnership will re-wet peatland at Green Hill in the River Erme headwater.  The project links to Wood ‘n Moor and shares the story of water on Dartmoor with engagement activities under projects such as Understanding Rivers.

Headwaters: provides nature-based climate change adaptation, reducing flood risks while enhancing priority habitats and improving water quality. It will involve community engagement and link to Understanding Rivers, Hillfarm Hub, Hall Farm and the festivals programme.

Hillfarm Hub: Hillfarm Hub will provide coordination for all the projects working with a farming audience.  This project will also act as a catalyst to engage farms with the Partnership and other available funding for nature.

River and Moorland Festivals: A series of community focused arts festivals across the scheme area, developed in consultation with local communities and creative people.  The festivals provide a focus for partners to collaborate with each other and help celebrate the landscape story.

Moorscapes: a community grant scheme will enable project ideas from the community that deliver against our aims and The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s investment principles.

Harnessing the Flow: volunteers will be trained and supported to undertake surveys of tin streaming features on Dartmoor.  This project works alongside Dartmoor Headwaters and peatland restoration.

Gateway Hubs: focus on creating a change in behaviour through improvements to rights of ways, increased confidence and more knowledge of opportunities to use these routes.

Bike It Moor: working with primary and secondary schools in Ivybridge, Okehampton and Princetown to motivate, inspire and develop the skills and confidence needed to increase the number of pupils and their families actively travelling (walk, wheel, scoot and cycle) and connect them to local green spaces. The project links with Understanding Rivers, Ancient Tree Hunt, Festivals and Gateway hubs.

Farm to City: A programme of activities to connect and engage communities living in Wandsworth, London, with farming and conservation communities on Dartmoor. The project will take a Dartmoor farm to inner London.  This project links with farm focused projects and youth engagement.

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