Dartmoor is a landscape where wildness once thrived. Rivers wind through open moorland beneath towering granite tors, and radioactive-green lichens cling to boulders more than 300 million years old. Bronze Age burial mounds and ancient standing stones offer reminders that people have been drawn to this place for millennia. It is regarded as one of Britain’s most beautiful, most treasured, and striking natural environments.

Much of Dartmoor is officially designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recognised for its rare and valuable wildlife. Its blanket bogs, heathlands and upland oak woodlands are rich in ecological significance.

Yet the wildlife that once relied on these habitats is fast disappearing. Dartmoor was once famed for its varied birdlife, but breeding populations of golden plover, red grouse and ring ouzel have either vanished or are teetering on the brink of local extinction.

Established 75 years ago, the UK’s 15 national parks were intended to give everyone access to nature and wild landscapes. But appearances can be deceiving. According to conservationists, many of these parks—despite their beauty—are becoming biodiversity deserts.

“We have become so used to these landscapes,” says author and campaigner Guy Shrubsole, who advocates for Right to Roam on Dartmoor. “Good geology hides a lot of problems. We’re admiring rocks and not what should be a living ecosystem.”

In some cases, the condition of habitats and species within national parks is worse than in areas outside them. In May, Natural England published its latest review of Dartmoor’s three largest protected sites, which cover nearly a quarter of the national park. Alarmingly, just 0.1% of this land was found to be in favourable condition. Since the last assessment in 2013, the area in poor and declining condition has doubled.

“Dartmoor is dying,” says Tony Whitehead, a Dartmoor nature campaigner, who crunched the Natural England data.

National parks are meant to play a key role in the UK government’s pledge to protect 30% of land by 2030. But current estimates suggest that less than 3% of England’s land is genuinely under effective environmental protection.

Take Hen Tor, an hour’s walk from the car park at Trowlesworthy. This stretch of South Dartmoor was once known for its carpets of purple heather in late summer.

Now, finding even a patch of heather is a challenge. On hands and knees, a few stray flowers can still be found tucked among the grasses. Bilberry bushes, once dense and plentiful, now cling to life around scattered stones. Rich floral diversity has given way to a monotonous green of closely grazed grass.

In winter, when grass becomes scarce, sheep turn to heather and bilberry for forage. Natural England reports a “sharp decline in heather cover” as a result. Monitoring shows that in some parts of Dartmoor, heather has declined from 25% cover to just 1%.

“We could lose the heather altogether,” says Whitehead. “It’s almost all gone. What is happening here is replicated on other commons around the moor.”

At the top of the hill lies a layer of deep peat, once a key feature of the moor. But past extraction and repeated burning have left it in a degraded state. Invasive purple moor grass has taken hold, forming vast monocultures that crowd out other life—turning rich habitats into ecological dead zones. In places, eroded gullies known as peat hags scar the landscape. Only 1% of Dartmoor’s deep peat remains in good condition.

The effects cascade. These habitats should support birds in national decline such as the ring ouzel, curlew, tree pipit and whinchat. Now, sightings are increasingly rare.

“If you ever had to describe a desert that is on a common, it is here,” says Whitehead. “It’s just desperate – the place is bleached, it’s a dead zone and I know how rich it could be. This is the exemplar of a bad site but it is not an anomaly.”

“If this area were reassessed today, it wouldn’t qualify as an SSSI,” says conservationist Patrick Whitehead. “None of the special features are still present. This has become bog-standard rough grazing land, like much of the UK uplands.”

 “This is [now] your bog-standard rough grazing land across uplands across the UK,” says Whitehead

At the root of the problem lies land ownership. The majority of national park land is privately owned and much of it, especially in upland areas, is used for livestock grazing. In Dartmoor, only 7.5% of the land is publicly owned. Conservation often takes a back seat to agricultural or economic interests.

Across the UK’s upland parks, overgrazing and moorland burning have pushed ecosystems into decline, and climate change is only making matters worse. Park authorities and conservation organisations are frequently underfunded and unable to carry out proper ecological monitoring or restoration work.

A landmark 2024 assessment of how national parks are aiding nature recovery found that just 6% of parkland in England and Wales is being managed effectively for wildlife.

Mike Madgwick, from the National Trust (which owns Hen Tor), confirmed that Natural England’s findings matched the Trust’s own data, calling them “deeply concerning”. He acknowledged that the system is not working.

“These landscapes are nationally important for their wildlife, heritage, and beauty. The National Trust is committed to reversing this decline,” says Madgwick.

He acknowledged that the current system was failing: “While the Trust has worked within the frameworks available, including government-funded schemes, we acknowledge that these have not delivered the ecological outcomes needed.”

The 2024 report by Campaign for National Parks highlighted chronic underfunding. Since 2010, government grants to national parks have been cut by 40% in real terms. None of the UK’s national parks currently meet the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s criteria for protected areas.

The situation on Dartmoor has prompted legal action. In July, campaign group Wild Justice brought a case against the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council (DCC), accusing it of failing to meet legal obligations to prevent environmental harm. The High Court hearing was held on 15 July.

Farmers—known as commoners—have historic rights to graze livestock on Dartmoor. There are around 850 commoners with rights to keep sheep, cattle or ponies on the commons.

David Wolfe KC, representing Wild Justice, argued that the DCC had failed to prevent overgrazing and had not issued a single limitation notice in over a decade. He called on the court to compel the Council to carry out proper grazing assessments and take necessary action.

The DCC defended its position, saying assessments had been made and that protecting the natural beauty of Dartmoor was a central concern. The case concluded on 16 July, with a written judgment expected in due course.

Yet, even among the degraded terrain of Hen Tor, small oases persist. Within the rocky outcrops, where livestock cannot graze, bilberry and mountain ash still thrive. Around the car park, scrub and bracken attract garden warblers, blackcaps and thrushes.

Ironically, it is these overlooked edge zones—protected by accident from overgrazing—that now harbour the richest biodiversity, offering a glimpse of what Dartmoor could once again become. “Dartmoor still has some amazing places, but they are small,” says Whitehead.

Despite decades of damage, the land still shows signs of resilience. Tiny shoots of heather can be found—frail but alive—offering hope for recovery, if action is taken soon. “This land needs a rest,” Whitehead insists. “There should be no sheep here in winter. If grazing levels were reduced, the moor could bloom again.”

If not, ecologists fear the wildlife Dartmoor was once known for will vanish completely—a land not where the wild things are, but where they used to be.

The quiet crisis unfolding here is not unique. It is mirrored across national parks throughout the UK. To truly understand what is happening, we must look beyond the surface beauty—and take stock of everything that’s missing.

 

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At Natural World Fund, we are passionate about restoring habitats in the UK to halt the decline in our wildlife.