Thinking at Landscape Scale, with Mark Owen and Naomi Oakley
Mark and Naomi on their farm
“It’s about legacy, what we’re passing on.”
Mark Owen and Naomi Oakley live at Challacombe Farm, a Duchy of Cornwall farm near Postbridge, where Naomi has lived since the age of six. Together they farm organic hardy native beef cattle and Icelandic cross Shetland sheep. And now they are at the heart of an exciting group – the Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery project - rethinking attitudes and practices of land use in central Dartmoor.
The group comprising farmers and landowners will be working together to develop a 20-year vision for roughly 90 square miles of central Dartmoor, and create a plan that builds on good practice and enacts change at scale. Their group is one of 56 across England that have recently received government funding for a 2-year project development phase, through the Landscape Recovery Scheme. This scheme, says the UK government, ‘is for landowners and managers who want to take a more radical and large-scale approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land.’
‘Change is coming,’ says Mark. ‘Nobody is happy with the current situation, whether you’re a farmer or a conservationist, and what we have in common is a love for Dartmoor, and desire to reverse the decline in biodiversity over the past 70 years or so. As farmers, we’re all trying to become more financially and environmentally sustainable … we want to do the right thing.’ This ‘right thing’ includes choosing practices that address and reverse challenges of climate change and biodiversity decline, and ensuring there are vibrant rural communities, working with the land, alongside producing high quality food.
“Change is coming. Nobody is happy with the current situation, whether you’re a farmer or a conservationist, and what we have in common is a love for Dartmoor, and desire to reverse the decline in biodiversity ...”
Central Dartmoor Farm Cluster - foundations for Landscape Recovery
This Landscape Recovery project application builds on the work of the Central Dartmoor Farm Cluster, a farmer-led group which was established as a CiC (community interest company) in 2023, with Mark as secretary. The Cluster’s collaborative work of meeting, discussing and sharing knowledge and ideas has been a vital foundation. This Landscape Recovery Project is a collaboration between the Cluster and the Duchy of Cornwall. ‘The Cluster is about farmers working together to enhance Dartmoor’s wildlife,’ says Mark. ‘For some farmers, and this is true for us, nature comes first and our animals help to manage our special habitats. Others are more production focused, but remain committed to ensuring nature can thrive on their farms alongside food production.
Its initial focus has been to extend and improve key habitats, such as species rich meadows, ancient woodlands (Atlantic rainforests), and rhos (‘red’) pastures, on the home farms. This is a systems approach integrating the home farms, newtakes and commons. Sustainable traditional management of grazing on common land aims to support the recovery of biodiverse habitats, good public access and the conservation of historic features. Each farm has also had natural capital reviews carried out, which is helping them plan ahead to enhance biodiversity and increase carbon capture.
Being place specific
Mark says the Cluster allows farmers to use innovative approaches, and tailor them to each unique circumstance, rather than being limited to prescriptions that are often part of agri-environment schemes. As an example, where farmers want to introduce herbal leys to pasture land to reduce fertiliser inputs and grow more nutritious animal fodder, there is a standard mix that’s recommended across the whole country for those in Countryside Stewardship schemes. ‘That mix just doesn’t grow up here!’ he says. ‘It’s too cold and wet .’ The Cluster used funding through the FiPL (Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme) and SW Water’s Upstream Thinking project to take advice from specialists, including an agronomist, and is trialling different seed mixes and establishment techniques. Being place-specific really matters when you’re trying to get results, and good value for money.
Working together
The Farm Cluster’s work has underpinned the application process to establish the Landscape Recovery Scheme. For this, the Farm Cluster has joined with other landowners, including the Duchy of Cornwall, Devon Wildlife Trust and SouthWest Water – who between them own a significant amount of land.
Among the 35 farmers involved so far 30 are Duchy tenants, including Naomi and Mark, and the area also encompasses The Forest of Dartmoor, which is a vast common impacted by the practices of more than 70 graziers. Naomi emphasises the importance of joined up actions. ‘A Landscape Recovery partnership has more chance of working at scale than only considering parcels of land – say for Biodiversity Net Gain, or on a single farm. Landscape Recovery has a systems approach, and it’s really important that it includes tenants.’ The farmers involved are keen to share their knowledge about specific areas of the moor, and about their practices, to learn from other specialists, and to ask questions, and are there to support one another.
Getting started - two years of planning
The next two years will be exciting but demanding for the group – in Year 1 to develop a 20-30 year vision, and in Year 2 to build the plan detailing key milestones, who’s involved, and what resources are needed including ongoing monitoring and evaluation to ensure the plan is delivering or can be adapted if things aren’t working as expected.
The plan will include flexibility, allowing additional farmers to join, and also allowing farmers to step out if they choose to. ‘Everyone who is part of this will need to want to be an active part of it,’ says Naomi, and that’s an important element when there’s much to be considered and so much potential change.
Naomi and Mark list some of the questions about the steps required to deliver large scale change with thriving farming that the group will be seeking to answer: Such as ‘How are we going to manage Molinia? Where might there be more trees? What should the river valleys look like? Where can we rewet peat? How do we extend meadows, where do seeds come from? How can we reduce fertlisers and other inputs? How will animals be shepherded? How do we improve public access? How we can provide a career for the next generation of farmers and land managers?’ The list goes on, and of course there’s also the vital question: ‘Where will all the funding come from?’
If, after two years, the plan is robust and the vision is approved, while a significant portion of the money for the next 20 years of work will come through government payments, the group will also need to raise money from other sources. This combination of public-private money – blended finance - will be integral in supporting the health and future of UK landscapes.
Mark is secretary of the Project Steering group, which includes other farm cluster members and people who bring additional expertise and knowledge, such as specialist understanding about Molinia, trees and peat. He is highly motivated and eager to take on the hard work that’s needed to steer the two years of planning, so that the group is ready to hit the ‘Go’ button and put plans into action.
Images from the farm in Summer, from Naomi and Mark
Looking ahead to an abundant future
I wonder what drives Naomi and Mark, who I know both work incredibly hard to bring people together and to advocate for change, while also maintaining their own farm. For Naomi, the answer comes quickly: ‘It’s about legacy, what we’re passing on.’ And for both of them, it’s about abundance. For nature, and for people. There are broad smiles as they talk about seeing Marsh Fritillary butterflies, the hope for the return of curlew once their habitats have been restored, and the joy that comes with sharing delight at meadows with hundreds of others who visit their farm each summer.
Perhaps at the core of the care and determination they and others in the Landscape Recovery scheme show, comes from a deep-seated pride in upland communities: the qualities of a farming culture that is woven into this landscape and has always demonstrated an ability to adapt, and to work with nature. ‘Celebrating specialness is important,’ says Mark. ‘And it’s also important that farmers see themselves as central to that. We want to show how we’re doing this effectively.’
“Celebrating specialness is important. And it’s also important that farmers see themselves as central to that. We want to show how we’re doing this effectively.”
No rainbows without rain … image from Naomi and Mark
Notes
Dartmoor has received funding for three projects, which is the highest number of schemes in any England national park. The newly announced Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery project and the Walkham Valley project are at the start of the process and will be learning from and collaborating with the existing East Dartmoor Landscape Recovery project.
22 groups were awarded funding in the first round, for the project development phase; The Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery Scheme is one of 34 groups funded in the second round.