Coping with Molinia grass in Dartmoor, and thoughts on Dartmoor’s future - a view from Adrian Colston
“Pretty much nobody is happy. Hill farmers hate the Molinia. Conservationists hate it, archaeologists hate it. We need to work out a way to turn the tide.”
Adrian Colston, Consultant Ecologist and Rural Social Scientist
When we meet Adrian on Holne Moor, the air is fresh and cool. We’re all thankful that yesterday’s sheeting rain has passed. We’re here to talk about the problem of Molinia on Dartmoor … and what can be done about it. Adrian has been a nature conservation practitioner for 35 years and now works as a self-employed consultant ecologist and rural social scientist, particularly on Dartmoor. His focus is on finding ways to move forward collaboratively, involving conservation, archaeology specialists, policy makers, hill farmers and land owners in decisions about land management.
‘My mother's side of the family were farmers in Devon. I didn't inherit the farm and conservation was the way for me to have involvement with land, I suppose. And I like Dartmoor. I'm intrigued by it, its complexity. There’s a challenge to fit all the pieces together.’
Adrian has become involved in the recent trials of methods to tackle the problem of Molinia. This vigorous grass, which is a natural feature of Dartmoor’s uplands (and many other areas of the UK), was the dominant vegetation in just 1% of the National Park in 1989, according to a report carried out by English Nature. Today, its spread has increased 50-fold in some places, and that’s a huge problem. It’s at its worst in The Forest of Dartmoor, a vast common in the centre of the national park, where 75% of the land is now dominated by Molinia.
The Forest of Dartmoor, where Molinia cover extends to 75%
Facing the challenge: a Sea of Molinia
Last year, Rob and I went onto The Forest with Tracy May, who has been involved in the Our Upland Commons Molinia project. The Molinia grows thick and forms huge clumps of course pale grass that slump over, blocking light and space for other vegetation. Areas that were once suitable for grazing are no longer accessible to animals. Areas that were wetlands rich in mosses have been smothered, as have swathes of heathland that are essential habitats for birds and a huge variety of invertebrates. And to say that it’s difficult to walk across Molinia is an understatement – for humans, it’s almost impossible to wade across the sea of clumps and invisible holes. Cattle and sheep turn their backs on it too, and instead focus their attention on smaller and smaller patches of accessible grass, which then become overgrazed.
Harriet on the Forest of Dartmoor with Tracy May, who has been involved in the molinia management work across Dartmoor
So why has this extreme growth of Molinia come about? ‘It’s very complicated,’ says Adrian. It’s partly due to the reduction of stock, including taking animals off the moors in winter, as this reduces the opportunities for grazing animals to eat the young shoots of Molinia; once it’s mature, they won’t touch it. The Molinia growth also reflects the impact of the ‘headage’ days when the moors were heavily over grazed, and environmental balance was disrupted. Another factor is the legacy of medieval peat cutting, which led to the draining of peat bogs. And Molinia also benefits from atmospheric nitrogen pollution and our changing climate. ‘Pretty much nobody is happy,’ says Adrian. ‘Hill farmers hate it. Conservationists hate it, archaeologists hate it. We need to work out a way to turn the tide.’
Learning what may help
To meet the challenge and begin to find a way forward, trials have been taking place on Molland Moor, Harford Moor and The Forest of Dartmoor, and on Ryders Hill, which is high up behind us, beyond Holne Moor. A range of methods have been monitored, including chain harrowing, introduction of cattle (including over winter), flattening the Molinia with diggers, and cutting it.
‘One of the most important things is going to be rewetting,’ says Adrian, ‘so we can get our bogs to be hydrologically functioning again.’ Molinia doesn’t like standing water, so this will be a good start - but it’s an enormous task (read more about the work with the Southwest Peat Partnership on The Forest here)
‘If we can reduce the density of Molinia in the blanket bog areas,’ says Adrian, ‘if we can re-wet those areas, this will start pulling in things like the upland dragonflies. Some birds will be able to come back and start breeding again, things like Dunlin and snipe and, if we cross our fingers, we might even see golden plover come back as a breeding species on Dartmoor.’
A reduction in the spread of Molinia will also bring benefits for farmers who need to graze sheep, cattle and ponies on the commons. This is critical, says Adrian, not just for people and the associated communities, but also for the landscape’s health and the biodiversity it can support. ‘Because if we don't have hill farmers in these landscapes, we're going to lose an awful lot more than we have lost at the moment.’
“I think we have to be realistic that we don’t have enough animals on Dartmoor, particularly cattle to graze all the areas of Molinia. We can experiment on small areas: if we can draw some cattle into those areas, the sheep will then follow behind, as will the ponies. And that will open up some of those Commons which are dominated by Molinia now.”
Molinia in the summer months, knee deep: Harriet with commoner Philip French
Historically, people would have burnt Molinia as part of the tradition of swaling on Dartmoor. But Molinia is fire resistant and comes back stronger after burning, if it’s not grazed. As with other elements of supressing Molinia growth such as flattening, cutting or harrowing, their impact may only be shortlived ‘I think we have to be realistic is that we don't have enough animals on Dartmoor, particularly cattle to graze all the areas of Molinia,’ says Adrian. ‘But what we can do is experiment on small areas. If we can draw some cattle into those areas, the sheep will then follow behind as will the ponies. And that will open up some of those Commons which are dominated by Molinia now.’
A question of balance … undergrazed or overgrazed?
Opening up areas for grazing may also benefit the rejuvenation of heathland, says Adrian. And when he mentions this, he points to a fundamental question and the ongoing discussions: is Dartmoor under grazed or over grazed? It seems to me that there can’t be one single answer as some areas may benefit from more grazing pressure, others may need less. One thing that’s evident is that reducing grazing on the commons all year round has increased grazing pressure in the lower inbye land, to the detriment of the environment there. As Adrian’s recent PhD explored, there are conflicts of opinion, and the answer to the question depends on which benefits you seek, and who you ask, and the area of land you’re talking about.
Heathlands offer a useful case study to evaluate change: ‘We have a very complex issue with heathlands on Dartmoor. It's been said that heather is gone because it's been over grazed by sheep. But we've had enormous reductions in stock numbers over the last 30 years, yet we haven't seen the re-emergence of heather. There are some who say we need to reduce stock numbers further and that will bring the heather back. I've done a lot of survey work on the moor over the last couple of years, and you can get to some very remote places where beasts haven't been grazing at all. And you find the heather there is all in its pioneer form – there are no big outgrowths. And the question has to be: why is that? Is this a matter of climate change? Is it a matter of nitrogen deposition? Is it a matter of Heather beetles? What is going on?’
Thinking about the system: commons, inbye land, and motivations for change
As with the Molinia trial, it seems that there’s a need for detailed surveys, as well as observation and knowledge sharing, to improve an understanding of what’s happening in the uplands now, and what changes have the greatest potential to deliver multiple benefits. Adrian wonders whether there has been too much focus on changing grazing practices on the commons, with too little attention to the inbye land. The loss of curlews on Dartmoor, like the loss of meadows and biodiversity decline in the past decades is closely linked to the intensification of this lower farmed land. ‘It's easy to blame the people who occupy those inbye lands and say, Look what they've done. But that's what they have been encouraged by policy to do since the Second World War. And if we look back at the Dartmoor experiment over the last 35 years,’ he continues, ‘that really hasn't got us to the right place. We need to stand back and say, so what do we do next? How do we go forward from here?’
“We need to stand back and say, so what do we do next? How do we go forward from here?”
Dartmoor at a Crossroads
The current situation marks a crossroad for Dartmoor and for uplands across the UK – with a process of policy shift that is slow and difficult [see footnote] but aims to support a lived-in and farmed landscape that supports biodiversity as well as providing food and helping with carbon sequestration. ‘I think if anything's ever going to happen up here,’ Adrian says, ‘it's all about understanding. It's all about conversations, it's about trust. And if you are an organisation or a person who hasn't invested in those personal relationships, then it's not going to happen.’
The complex nature of caring for a multi-faceted landscape, involving many different landowners and farmers, and a range of interest groups, impacts every decision, whether this is around Molinia management, the planting of trees, flood management, recreation and tourism, or entomology … the list goes on. And the passion shown by Adrian and so many others to move positively forward is driving new initiatives that hold promise. These include three newly announced Landscape Recovery Schemes in Dartmoor that are being co-designed by farmers and landowners, to support nature-friendly farming that is suited to each place.
Positive steps forward
Adrian is positive about these schemes, and optimistic about change that involves people who bring a range of specialist knowledges.
“We need to think about how we can work out a way forwards that combines local knowledge and local skills with scientific knowledge. If we do that in an innovative way, we might see things changing in ways that would surprise us.”
‘Perhaps we need to be more innovative about how we try and find solutions. I think we, by which I mean society in general, have pushed to one side the use of local. There's a considerable amount of expertise within the hill farming community, who we could talk to in a better way than we have done. We need to think about how we can work out a way forwards that combines local knowledge and local skills with scientific knowledge. And if we do that in an innovative way, we might actually see things changing in ways that would surprise us.’
After a deep dive into complex issues that sometimes seem frustrating and insurmountable, it’s good to end our conversation on a positive note. The clouds overhead have shifted and we now have sun on our faces, with skylarks trilling loudly all around us. This helps with a sense of positivity that there is the potential for putting the pieces together, bringing people together, and not just tackling the Molinia problem, but also moving forward in a way that could involve beneficial land use changes, and reset attitudes to caring for a place that is so deeply loved, by so many.
Taking in the view - Adrian pointing out how the uplands have changed over the past 30 years
[1] NOTE ON THE DARTMOOR REVIEW (currently awaiting response from Defra).
The recent Independent review on protected site management on Dartmoor, led by David Fursdon Review was published at the end of 2023. It was commissioned by the government following deep concern from farmers when stocking reductions suggested by Natural England were seen to be so severe that they made the farm businesses unviable. Among other recommendations, the review underlines the necessity of continued grazing and viable hill farming businesses in the National Park, and calls for improvements in communication between and across interest groups.
Says Adrian: ‘I think one of the positive things that's come out of the recent conflict, via the Fursdon review, is it has focused minds and it has helped politicians and others understand that perhaps hill farming does have a role in the future shaping of these landscapes … At this point in time, the future of Dartmoor is entirely dependent on what Defra decide to do with the Fursdon Review. If they decide that the Fursdon review is has overstepped the mark and they would prefer to go back to what Natural England were proposing before the review was commissioned, then I guess, and this will sound dramatic, but I guess then it's game over for Hill farming on Dartmoor. If I'm being positive, and I will be positive for a moment, perhaps one of the reasons that the transition plan for the uplands hasn't been published yet is because Defra are still mulling over the review. Because the Fursdon review does give quite a clear template about how things could happen in in the uplands. And implicit with that is how that needs to be funded in order to make it happen. Now, that's my optimism.’