Project to secure the future of Englands upland commons underway

Project to secure the future of England’s upland commons is underway

 A THREE-YEAR, £3m project is underway to help secure the future of upland commons in Dartmoor, the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Shropshire Hills.

 At risk of quietly vanishing is a system of iconic people looking after legendary landscapes that benefit society says regional director Mike Innerdale from the National Trust, one of 25 partners backing the project.

 In 2021 just 3% (400,000 hectares) of England remains as privately owned common land over which individuals have rights. That includes people, for recreation, and commoners, whose rights include grazing livestock - a feature of many upland farms adjoining common land.

 ‘Our Upland Commons’, made possible by a major £1.9 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is led by the Foundation for Common Land. Its executive director Julia Aglionby says:

 “Commoning has given rise to the centuries old practice of shared land management. It’s a system that gives us many good things - including food, water, access to nature, green space and heritage. And it can help with many 21st century challenges from nature recovery to flood management, carbon storage and wellbeing.”

 This project comes at a pivotal time for the 12 commons getting help - totalling 18,000 hectares.

 “There are serious threats to commons and the system of commoning. If not addressed we’ll lose these rare landscapes and the benefits they bring now and, in the future,” explains Julia Aglionby.

 “The Uplands Commons project is all about helping commoners adapt and survive as well as growing the public’s enjoyment of, and respect for, commons and commoning,” she adds.

 “Over three years we’ve lots planned, says Sam Caraway, Foundation for Common Land’s project manager:

 “From citizen science projects and youngsters learning about environmental management to volunteers repairing heritage features - hill forts to hedges. There’ll be sheep gathering, open farm and night sky events too. And we’ll be improving natural flood management and habitats for birds and butterflies, as well as restoring fragile peatlands. Most importantly there’s lots of help for farmers including making their case for future financial support,” he adds.

 “Commons are brimming with nature, history and culture,” says Julia Aglionby.

 “You are seven times more likely to find common land has a special nature designation, four times more likely to find an ancient monument and about half (39%) of free access land in England is on common land.

 “It’s vital that we recognise and protect our upland commons. And now - thanks to National Lottery players, who say nature is especially important to them, and grants from Esmée Fairbairn and Garfield Weston Foundations amongst others - action is being taken to help secure their future in these four areas,” concludes Julia Aglionby.

 Commons are beautiful places to explore and have adventures in. Find them by checking Defra’s MAGIC map https://magic.defra.gov.uk/

View of Catbells, on Derwent Common near Keswick. Credit: iStock.com