This study aimed to establish a baseline for dung beetle population in two Common Land areas and associated inbye lands, with a methodology designed for future monitoring. Key objectives included assessing species diversity and abundance compared to a control site and understanding the impact of current livestock management practices on dung beetle populations.

Data was collected over three years (2021 - 2023) from 15 farms who graze livestock on Dartmoor Common Land. The aim of the research was to highlight the true cost of grazing livestock on the common and inform future Agri-environment intervention rates. Authors: Mark Fogerty, Duchy College Rural Business School and Tracy May.

A study assessing Dartmoor’s breeding bird data to identify why Whinchats have disappeared from some areas but not others, in the hope of securing the future of this species across Dartmoor commons and informing conservation efforts across similar landscapes elsewhere. Recommendations are now available for Dartmoor farmers and commoners to help bring back Whinchat-friendly features to their land and boost breeding habitat for the birds. 

This report describes the results of heritage work carried out with volunteers on the Stiperstones during Autumn 2023. They focussed on Bronze Age cairns in the south of the site and Post Medieval settlement remains in the north. The activities were aimed at engaging volunteers in archaeological survey work, increase knowledge in the local community of features on the common and improve information held at the Shropshire Historic Environment Record (SHER).

This report describes the results of an archaeological trench over part of a lime kiln adjacent to Nordy Bank, Clee Liberty, in the northwest of Clee Liberty Common. The fieldwork was carried out from the 5th to the 12th of June 2023.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Farm Conservation Team compiled a Farmer-Led Habitat Assessment process for commoners to assess the quality and quantity of various special and specific habitats on Ingleborough. As Ingleborough is an SSSI, it is paramount that the farmers have the right data to support ongoing conversations with conservationists and those interested in the land. This report is the culmination of that work.

This report describes the results of a shepherding trial on Stiperstones during the grazing seasons of 2021 and 2022. After first observing where the sheep and cattle naturally grazed, in the second year, the shepherd actively moved the sheep to areas less grazed. Despite the very hot summer and drought of 2022 making the trial more challenging, this report sets out several other factors affecting the sheep grazing patterns on the Stiperstones.

Following the Brant Fell Archaeology survey and the Yellowhammer bird habitat survey, a Natural Flood Management Report was scoped to reduce flood risk to Sedbergh from Brant Fell in the Yorkshire Dales. The report provided recommendations after input from commoners in the area, to ensure the most appropriate methods for the steep fell.

YDNP (Yorkshire Dales National Park) Historic Environment team undertook a site walk-over of Brant Fell, Sedbergh to discover any further archaeological remnants of human habitation to enhance existing HER records. The report details 75 new sites that underpin other Brant Fell Projects, such as the NFM (Natural Flood Management) recommendations.

As part of the biodiversity strand in the Our Commons Cause project, a survey was commissioned to identify Ring Ouzel habitats on Grassington Moor and examine whether numbers had increased or declined against previous reports.

This report describes the background, considerations, methods and findings of the three years of research to establish why whinchats are in decline and to determine action to reverse this. This involved locating nests, monitoring broods, colour-ringing chicks, and recording habitat observations to make and trial bracken management recommendations.

This report describes the results of a survey carried out by Yorkshire Peat Partnership between February and March 2022.

The survey was carried out in 3 parts: an initial desk-based survey of aerial photographs, which helped make an initial assessment of the type of work that might be needed; the field survey, where information about the grips, gullies, hags and bare peat as well as the vegetation communities and peat depth is recorded onto a hand-held mapper; and a desk-based post survey of the area using a combination of the aerial photography and walkover survey data to classify erosion features.

This report describes the results of archaeological geophysical investigations with the aim of enhancing our understanding of the archaeological resource within the common lands of Shropshire and, in particular, relating to prehistoric activity on the Longmynd. The surveys were undertaken at two scheduled sites, Bodbury Ring (LEN: 1009309), a large univallate hillfort situated above Cardingmill Valley. The second was Novers Hill (LEN: 1008385), a small enclosure and building platform located near the summit of Novers Hill.

This report comprises an assessment of the historic environment and archaeological features of Clee Liberty including a discussion of their value and significance in the historic landscape. The report forms the basis for the Historic Environment activities offered and carried out as part of the Our Upland Commons project during 2021 -2023.

Our Common Cause: Our Upland Commons was a landmark project that worked to conserve, enhance and broaden understanding of the cultural and natural heritage of commons and commoning in upland England, working in the Lake District, Dartmoor, the Yorkshire Dales and Shropshire Hills. Read the project’s executive summary.

This guide presents a set of principles of hill sheep husbandry but recognises that practice must be flexible, combining art and science, providing for particular sheep in particular places at particular times. The evolution of hill sheep husbandry is described and analysed as a set of key principles. The relationship between soils, vegetation, and grazing is examined, and an overview of the nutritional value of commonly grazed plants is provided. All aspects are illustrated by reference to science and development studies supported with illustrations.

This leaflet is available to download and has jointly been produced by AONBs, National Parks England, National Sheep Association, Foundation for Common Land, Dartmoor Commoners Council, New Forest Commoners Defence Association, Federation of Cumbria Commoners.

This toolkit provides 20 Fact Sheets and Guidance Notes. These documents provide practical guidance for those involved with common land, which remains under practical agricultural management by farmers and commoners. They can be used by practitioners seeking the sustainable management of commons to provide the widest possible range of public benefits.