Natural England Urges Rule Change for 1,000 Dartmoor Ponies
Natural England and MPs are urging Defra to change livestock rules so dartmoor ponies are not treated the same as sheep and face no cull under moorland destocking plans. The push comes as the number of Dartmoor hill ponies has fallen to fewer than 1,000 from about 7,000 in 1999.
The change sought would affect how stewardship funds are tied to grazing cuts on the moor. Natural England says the current drafting makes no distinction between ponies and sheep, and that the agency itself has no power to order a cull of either.
Steve Race and Joss Hibbs
Steve Race, the local Labour MP, said: “The ponies are not livestock – they’ve existed as an integral part of Dartmoor’s ecosystem for thousands of years, and are the only thing that eats the highly destructive molinia grass that is reducing Dartmoor’s biodiversity.”
Joss Hibbs, secretary of the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association, said: “Natural England is putting ponies in direct competition with commercial livestock who pay the farmers’ bills. Their plans disregard the scientific evidence and could decimate an endangered species that has been a feature of the landscape for over 4,500 years.”
Natural England and Defra rules
Sources at Natural England said Defra’s policy on livestock fails to distinguish between ponies and sheep. One source at Natural England said: “Defra policy in agri-environment schemes does not allow us to differentiate between livestock animals in making agreements.”
Natural England said there should be an aim to destock the moors by 76%. The government-planned reduction sits alongside a review published two years ago that said Natural England should not take actions likely to result in fewer pony numbers, and that ponies were invaluable for conservation grazing.
Dartmoor hill ponies
The pressure falls on a rare herd that has been part of Dartmoor for more than 4,000 years. Farmers are more likely to remove ponies than sheep because sheep can be sold for meat, leaving the policy fight to decide whether the ponies are treated as part of the grazing stock that must be reduced or as a separate population that should be protected.
Race’s call for a carve-out and Natural England’s push for a rule change now put Defra at the center of the decision. The key issue is whether the livestock rules will be rewritten so fewer than 1,000 Dartmoor hill ponies are exempt from the reduction requirements tied to stewardship funds.
