As we await the findings of the Independent Evidence Review of Protected Site Management on Dartmoor, the RSPB, Devon Wildlife Trust and the Campaign for National Parks reflect on how the situation on Dartmoor has become a microcosm of the issues facing Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) across England and what is needed to turn things around.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are the foundation of site-based nature conservation in England. Covering 8% of the country, these 4,100 special sites represent our most important and vulnerable habitats and species, underpinning other statutory designations and sitting at the heart of the national Nature Recovery Network and emerging Local Nature Recovery Strategies. Managing them well is essential if we’re to have any hope of honouring the UK Government’s world-leading commitment to protect and effectively manage 30% of land for nature by 2030.
Improving SSSIs
Yet, according to Natural England, currently only 39% of SSSIs – little more than 3% of land in England – are in good condition. The Environmental Improvement Plan sets clear and stretching targets to turn things around, including for 50% of SSSIs to have “actions on track to recovery” by 2028. Achieving this target is not going to be easy. Most SSSIs are privately-owned and many are under some form of agricultural management. Having the right incentives in place to encourage and reward farmers and land managers for protecting and restoring our most important wildlife sites is vital, which means we urgently need an effective and fit-for-purpose Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. This means requiring and only paying for management that will genuinely drive recovery, monitoring to ensure that it is delivering, and taking action where it is not.
Designed and administered well, these schemes are the most powerful mechanisms we have to drive the step-change needed, while supporting the farm businesses and communities that depend on these landscapes. Get it wrong, and we risk wasting public money on unsustainable farming practices, while nature and climate resilience declines, undermining the long-term security of local communities.
Although uptake of the new ELM schemes nationally is increasing, this is not translating into environmental gain. Over the last five-years, the focus on simplifying Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (the mid and bottom tiers of ELM respectively), has resulted in agreements that aren’t creating the intensity of option uptake in the right places to halt and reverse biodiversity declines. Expiring HLS agreements must be replaced with new bespoke CS Higher Tier offers and /or access to Landscape Recovery funding (the top tier of ELM) which properly incentivise and reward meaningful delivery.
Delivering for Dartmoor
Dartmoor is a microcosm of this. Although much-loved by the people who live, work, and visit there, Dartmoor and its SSSIs are not in good health, with many in unfavourable or declining condition. Previous land management agreements under Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) which were supposed to deliver improvements have not succeeded, and, in places, condition has actually deteriorated.
The success of three Landscape Recovery bids within Dartmoor National Park shows the appetite that exists for well-funded, tailored, place-based schemes, which reward innovation and long-term thinking to benefit farming and nature together. By contrast, in the context of Dartmoor, HLS rollovers will do little more than waste money and time. Prolonging schemes which have failed to deliver for nature undermines value for the taxpayer and represents a massive, missed opportunity to enhance site condition and improve the resilience and profitability of the farm businesses dependent on Dartmoor.
Supporting farmers
With a funding decline of 72% between 2009-2019, Natural England’s on-the-ground resources have been significantly cut on Dartmoor and elsewhere - going from the equivalent of 9 full time Advisors on Dartmoor in 2011 to just 0.5 in 2020. That clearly has an impact on the agency’s ability to deliver consistent monitoring and critical advisory support. We need a statutory body that is resourced, supported and empowered to work alongside farmers and commoners to ensure the recovery of these protected areas.
In the face of climate change, habitats and ecosystems that are already in degraded condition are likely to suffer most, as are the local communities and farming systems that depend on them. Restoring these habitats with the right management will help future proof Dartmoor, benefiting businesses and communities, providing clean water and managing flood risk. Climate change does not make favourable condition unattainable. Instead, it highlights the growing importance of recovering habitats to increase their resilience and give both people and nature the best possible opportunity to adapt to the projected impacts.
This is not a case of nature vs farming. It’s about finding the right levers and incentives to ensure that we meet our legal and moral obligations to restore and protect our most precious sites for nature, while securing a sustainable future for the people, businesses and communities who depend on them.
All eyes are on Dartmoor.
Written in partnership with:
To read RSPB’s full written submission to the Independent Evidence Review of Protected Site Management on Dartmoor, click here.