No, Chris - Sheep Didn’t Ruin Dartmoor: Our Letter to The Guardian

Chris Packham’s criticism of sheep farming on Dartmoor is both irresponsible and misleading (Sheep are destroying precious British habitats – and we taxpayers are footing the bill, 15 July). Britain’s upland landscapes are only beginning to recover from centuries of damage caused by coal-fired industrial pollution.

Cleaner air has reduced acid rain, allowing soils and freshwater systems to slowly regain their natural balance. But recovery is uneven and fragile. Many habitats still bear the scars of past pollution: depleted nutrients, acidified soils, and disrupted ecosystems. That will take decades of careful stewardship to fully restore.

How sheep are responsible for all this is unclear. They have been quietly grazing Dartmoor for around 3,500 years, long before the Industrial Revolution left its mark. It seems unfair to lay today’s environmental problems at the hooves of animals that have coexisted with this landscape for millennia.

Each sheep also consumes about a tonne of vegetation a year, helping to manage fuel loads across the moor. This is not a small point. Just two months ago, a wildfire destroyed over 1,000 acres of Dartmoor and the wildlife living there. The Climate Change Committee has warned that such events are likely to become more frequent and severe. Now is hardly the time to remove the very grazers that help reduce the risk.

We should also recognise the hard work of Dartmoor’s Commoners, those who care for the sheep and manage the land under often challenging conditions. Their role is too easily overlooked in debates dominated by remote opinion. Maintaining Dartmoor’s unique cultural and ecological character requires local knowledge, lived experience and continuity of care. Blessed are the sheep; and those who tend them. Food, fibre, landscape management and fire protection - all in one.

Andrew Gilruth

Chief Executive

The Moorland Association

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