July 16, 2026

expert reaction to announcement that Dartmoor ponies will be removed from stocking rate calculations

Scientists comment on announcement from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on protecting Dartmoor pony populations. 

Dr Lisa Norton, Senior Scientist, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said:

“Dartmoor, like other upland areas in England is a complex landscape of habitats shaped by climate and geographical conditions as well as by historic and current management. Dartmoor ponies have been part of these systems for thousands of years and are well adapted to grazing on the moor. Their grazing habits complement those of sheep and cows, and their large overall size and hoof size may be significant in some areas for trampling and opening up coarse vegetation to allow growth of more desirable species.  Hence, both their cultural significance and their role in grazing moorland habitats are important for Dartmoor. The detailed independent evidence review for Dartmoor, produced in late 2023, provided extensive recommendations for joined up approaches to the future management of Dartmoor. Recommendation 27 stated that: ‘Dartmoor’s pony population is genetically important and invaluable for conservation grazing. Ponies and cattle should not be linked for the calculation of A-E agreement stocking rates and NE should not take actions likely to result in a decline in pony numbers’. This recommendation appears to have been adhered to.”

Prof Mariecia Fraser, Professor of Upland Agroecology, Aberystwyth University, said:

“This is a very welcome decision. Research has shown ponies are more willing than sheep or cattle to graze Molinia (purple moor grass). Over-dominance by Molinia is a major barrier to heathland habitat restoration and hopefully now the potential for grazing by the Dartmoor Hill Ponies to deliver biodiversity gain will be better recognised and exploited. Many areas on Dartmoor are under-grazed rather than over-grazed. The new support for maintaining a viable population size should also ensure that these ponies’ unique genetics are protected. New research is finding links between markers they carry and ancient DNA from ice age pony remains.”

Prof Davy McCracken, Professor of Agricultural Ecology, SRUC, said:

“This decision by Defra seems to have been driven more by the wider public reaction to concerns that the number of ponies on Dartmoor might decrease even further as opposed to any detailed consideration of the role – positive or negative – that ponies have in the wider debate about grazing levels on Dartmoor.

“Indeed, no grazing animal – be it a sheep, cow or pony – has inherently good or bad impacts on most types of upland vegetation. Instead, the level of impact will depend on the type of vegetation, its condition, the amount and timing of grazing and the alternative grazing resources in the immediate vicinity.

“The situation on Dartmoor is complex. There is no doubt that some priority habitats are in poor condition on some parts of the moor but there also needs to be greater recognition that the increase in bracken and Molina grassland is contributing to that decline, especially through having important impacts on where livestock choose to graze.

“As Defra now recognise in their press release, looking at any one habitat or livestock species in isolation will not lead to any resolution of the ongoing debate around grazing on Dartmoor. What is required is to consider how the grazing system as a whole is currently functioning and to recognise that different grazing levels will likely be required on different parts of the moor in order to address the underlying issues caused by historic over or under grazing.”

Declared interests

Dr Lisa Norton: “Lisa Norton is an independent scientist with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology who was a panel member on the Dartmoor Evidence Review.”

Prof. Mariecia Fraser: “I have had funding from Defra and UKRI for my research. I am a member of the Natural England Scientific Advisory Committee. I am being paid by the Dartmoor Land Management Group to provide scientific oversight to the trial work in being put in place on Dartmoor in response to the Fursdon review. I made a donation to the crowdfunding that supported the ceramic Dartmoor Pony exhibition that aimed to raise awareness of the threat to the ponies. I wrote an article for The Conversation on the subject. I own native ponies (other breeds)”

Prof Davy McCracken: “Over the past 35 years I have been involved with a wide range of research projects funded by UK and EU government agencies, NGOs and industry and have inputted to all of those objectively. I am currently involved in a Japanese Ministry of Education funded project [SATOCONN] looking at farming system, environmental and socio-ecological interactions in 6 regions – two in Japan and four in Europe – with Dartmoor being one of the study regions. The project is led by Professor Janet Dwyer who also sits on the Dartmoor Land Use Management Group. I am also currently a member of a small independent panel of experts who were commissioned to provide a report on the approach taken to set grazing levels in Higher Level Stewardship Scheme roll-over agreements in the Lake District. This was originally established at the behest of a group of farmer-organisations but was ultimately taken forward as a Defra funded FIPL [Farming in Protected Landscape programme project [Grazing for Good]. Finally, I was one of the founding members of the European Forum on Nature Conservation & Pastorlism, an NGO which recognises that grazing is necessary for many habitats considered to be of high nature conservation value.”