A NEW DAWN FOR THE UPLANDS: FCL welcomes Defra’s commitment to England’s Uplands following Hilary Cottam’s review

PRESS RELEASE- 8 January 2026

A NEW DAWN FOR THE UPLANDS 

The Foundation for Common Land welcomes Defra’s commitment to England’s Uplands through launching two regional initiatives in Dartmoor and then in Cumbria following Hilary Cottam’s review for Defra of Upland Communities. Hilary Cottam’s previous work focused on seemingly intractable problems in reforming the welfare state.

 This new initiative places local upland communities at the heart of shaping the future for the landscapes they live in and manage. The initial planning phase will empower communities to design land management schemes suited to their locality rather than rely on national schemes that too often create tensions and polarise interests. People and improving relationships between them will be at the heart of the trial that aims to enhance nature and cultural heritage, produce good quality food and enable isolated communities to flourish.

 “What excellent news for the uplands to launch 2026. We have been much impressed by our engagement with Hilary Cottam and the Defra Policy Design Lab and look forward to working with them going forward,” commented Julia Aglionby, Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land, and added;

 “Hilary Cottam’s design principles set out in ‘Radical Help’ and ‘The Work we Need Now’ chime with the outcomes from ‘Our Upland Commons’ our five year Lottery funded project. We found the uplands are better managed when we put people and their relationships at the heart of decision making, where we build capacity among communities to address knotty problems and where through independent facilitation we build trust rather than contain risks.”