Overview
- Reports on Tuesday said Natural England’s draft moorland agri‑environment contracts would cut grazing by about 75 percent and, for the first time, include Dartmoor hill ponies in overall livestock counts.
- Natural England has denied it recommended a mass cull and said it cannot order one while Downing Street has publicly pledged the government will not permit a cull.
- Campaign groups and the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association say the contracts would make ponies economically unviable compared with sheep and cattle and could lead to losses of up to about 90 percent of the herd at the October drifts.
- Critics point to a policy flaw in Defra’s agri‑environment rules that does not differentiate livestock species and to a 2023 independent review that advised not linking ponies with cattle for stocking rates.
- The dispute threatens commoners’ incomes, has prompted petitions and cross‑party pressure for immediate carve‑outs, and campaigners say the government must clarify contract language before the schemes take effect by year‑end.