Whatever happens, don’t forget the farmers

Plans to ‘rewild’ parts of Exmoor National Park are all very well, says Bridgwater and West Somerset Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger. But, he tells Defra Secretary George Eustice, they cannot proceed without the full co-operation and consent of farme

DEAR George, Anyone crossing Exmoor in recent days would have surely concluded that there is absolutely no need at all to indulge in some fanciful scheme to ‘rewild’ part of it. It is already wild enough.

I seriously wonder how much wilder you can get than the highest parts of Exmoor, what with Atlantic weather systems whistling in uninterrupted on one side, relieved only by vicious, bone-chilling easterlies arriving occasionally from the other.

But of course few if any of those outsiders who would foist an ill thought-out ‘rewilding’ scheme on a tenth of the park have ever been there in the winter to experience such conditions.

All their planning, all their tedious discussions take place at levels well below the snowline in comfortable, well-heated offices. In that they are as insulated from the elements as they appear to be from the opinions of local people – and particularly farmers – which seem to have been taken as read while they have pushed on with their ill-considered and, frankly, unwanted project.

We are but a few months from this being enshrined in national park policy yet as far as I am aware the views of Exmoor farmers have yet to be weighed up and taken into account – if indeed that is the intention.

And I can’t stress too highly here that the most important people on Exmoor aren’t the national park officials and staff. Neither are they the growing army of second-homers who claim to be helping the Exmoor economy but in fact whose presence is one of the main factors in its continuing decline.

No, the most important people on Exmoor are the farmers. The members of those families which have been managing and working the moor for generations. Who have turned it into the place of incredible beauty it is today. Who continue to deliver land management of the highest quality at an unmatchable price. And frankly, who we will always need to be there if we are to keep the place looking attractive in the interests of its other main revenue stream: tourism.

The national park authority – and the nation – is getting Exmoor managed on the cheap, in other words.

I don’t particularly care which set of government policies the rewilders believe their plans to be in accord with. I don’t particularly care, either if they wish to introduce, beavers, bears or herds of buffalo. What I do care is that farmers whose livelihoods may well be impacted by this nonsense aren’t left out of pocket.

And if you want that view underlined here’s what Exmoor farmer Robin Milton wrote on the topic recently: “A productive and healthy farming industry in balance with the natural environment must be the objective where appropriate rewetting, rewilding, peat restoration are rewarded in such a manner that the cultural and socio-economic values are retained, national park purposes are achieved and farming is recognised for its contribution.

“Hundreds of years’ worth of experience in management of the natural environment must be of some value.”

Couldn’t put it better myself.

Yours ever,

Ian

Michael Edwards The most important people on Exmoor are the farmers, says Ian Liddell-Grainger