The four-year Our Common Cause project was designed to be a focus for concerted and collaborative action. It signified a step-change from talking, convening and championing, to a time of action filled with demonstrating, delivering and empowering.

This report documents the results of a historic environment survey as part of a project for proposed peat restoration works under a Natural England PA2 Feasibility study grant. This work focuses on two blocks of moorland on Grassington Moor, Wharfedale, and provides the information required of an Historic Environment Assessment to allow the management of the historic environment within the wider restoration project.

This report provides an overview of the habitat management to increase fritillary numbers and survey results. It is a useful reference document of what to do to improve the quality and extent of breeding habitat for two of the UK’s most threatened and rapidly declining butterflies, the High Brown Fritillary, Fabriciana Adippe and Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Boloria Euphosyne.

A summary of the Healthy Trees for Tomorrow Project which aimed to gain a better understanding of the number, age distribution and health of trees on commons. We are sharing three survey reports from the commons we surveyed, including: Harford and Ugborough Moor (South Dartmoor), Holne Moor (East Dartmoor), Walkhampton Common (West Dartmoor). 

This survey aimed to increase our understanding of Piles Hill Stone Row and peripheral monuments. Discoveries were made during a week-long dig aimed at learning more about the double stone row, the longest of its kind in the UK. Authors: Mark Edwards and Dr Stephen Trick, Substrata, May 2022.

This report outlines the results of a trial to control Molinia (Purple Moor Grass) and increase the abundance of blanket bog species. The trial flattened 5 ha of Molinia dominated blanket bog with low ground pressure diggers.

This management plan looks ahead to managing Hartford and Ugborough Commons over the next 20 or 30 years. The work programme identifies and proposes work to improve the condition of the commons and the public benefits they provide, including the condition required by the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the two Premier Archaeological Landscapes (PALs). This management plan is written primarily for the owners of the commons and the farmers whose livestock graze the common. 

These two surveys provide baseline assessments of vegetation communities and the condition of the surrounding habitats. They include management recommendations to restore the mires. Author: Dr Belinda Wheeler

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.