Year 5: Approved Projects

Year 5: Approved Projects

The following projects were approved in year 4 of the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (March 2025 - 2026).

Project name and referenceProject descriptionFiPL grant awardedOffer/Expiry date
TB Support Group Project (DNP-FPL-353)Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a big issue on Dartmoor and across the UK. Dartmoor is part of a higher-risk area for Bovine TB in England. The disease is widespread and cattle are regularly tested to detect disease. This has significant negative impacts on farmers, extending beyond financial costs to include mental health struggles and business disruption. This project will deliver four farmer-led, interactive, knowledge share workshops, focusing on the real impact that bTB has on Dartmoor’s farmers, their families, and their farm businesses. The project will also identify where the gaps are in support for farmers going through an outbreak and explore how those gaps could be filled on a local level to improve the quality of TB support available. FiPL is supporting the initial investigative and developmental stage to scope out the feasibility and viability of evolving into a local registered charity that supports farmers on the ground who are going through a TB outbreak.£25,00011/06/2025 - 31/03/2026
Okehampton Common Fire Mitigation (DNP-FPL-355)

This is a collaborative application submitted by the Okehampton Commoners Association for the purchase of essential wildfire mitigation equipment. The aim is to improve their ability to appropriately respond, mitigate and manage wildfires on Okehampton Common. The purchase of firefighting equipment will strengthen local wildfire response capacity. This equipment will be used by commoners, who are often the first responders to wildfires, working in close coordination with the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

£5,576.6604/07/2025 - 31/03/2026
Dartmoor Blueberries  (DNP-FPL-356)This project aims to enhance biodiversity and improve sustainable land practices at Dartmoor Blueberries, a nature-friendly soft fruit farm, through the introduction of  companion planting, restoring unmanaged crops, installing solar-powered cold storage and  improving flow paths for natural irrigation, all whilst supporting wildlife habitats on the farm.£9,838.1011/07/2025 - 31/03/3036
Dartmoor Farmers Association - Phase Two  (DNP-FPL-357)

The Dartmoor Farmers Association are seeking to build on a very successful pilot project, aiming to deliver an additional 25 bespoke and engaging educational 'Farm to Fork' school visits for children. This will provide a unique opportunity for school children to visit and experience a farm on Dartmoor. At least 11 farms will be hosting and delivering the 25 school visits. The visits focus on increasing children’s understanding of where their food comes from, as well as the critical links between farming and nature.

£54,480.6216/07/2025 - 31/03/2026
Sea Wool Rock Bags (DNP-FPL-358a)

This project aims to design and produce a Sea Wool Rock Bag prototype, which will be created using fully biodegradable Dartmoor Whiteface Sheep’s wool. Currently, plastic-covered rock bags are widely used to weigh down and embed wind turbines to protect subsea cables at sea on wind farms globally. This project focusses the production stage of this long-term project, working alongside Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) to produce and test a new, innovative, sustainable wool net that will not only create an alternative product for subsea operations, but will also provide more of a route to market for our Dartmoor farmers’ wool.

£35,308.9916/07/2024 - 31/03/2026
Dartmoor Commoners Council Fire Plan III (DNP-FPL-360)This project builds on the work that has been completed in phase 2 of the Dartmoor Strategic Fire Plan, aiming to create a Dartmoor wide wildfire plan which will reduce the risk of wildfires and shorten the response time when a wildfire does happen. The Dartmoor Commoners Council delivered this project, which includes access improvements across Dartmoor’s commons, for example, widening 60km of existing paths, improving 21 river crossings and repairing 150m of existing tracks. All stakeholders, commoners and contractors involved in this project will be trained to using our new mapping system, ensuring it remains live and up to date in the future.£86,117.2816/07/2025 - 31/03/2026
Brook Manor Survey & Scae Farm Meadow Restoration (DNP-FPL-362)The aim of this project is to undertake meadow restoration (6.23 ha) at Scae Farm, which will extend the neighbouring nature-rich meadow, and undertake a woodland bryophyte survey (90 acres) at Brook Manor, with the aim of informing the future management of the woodland. Restoring and extending the lowland meadow habitat and gaining information on the mosses, liverworts and hornworts present within the woodland will will maximise the value of the sites.£5,865.6014/08/2025 - 31/03/2026
Shallowford Farm Countryside Code (DNP-FPL-363)

A project aiming to improve Shallowford Farm’s engagement and interpretation by increasing farm familiarisation before a school visit, and addressing an existing issue of pre-visit anxiety. This includes updating their ‘Countryside Code’ poster which is used for every visiting school group, a new brand guide and logo, standardised signage for farm buildings, an engaging farm map and improved promotional/educational leaflets. This project will help to contextualise and understand where children will be visiting ahead of signing up, and reduce the fear of the unknown.

£9,749.0214/08/2025 - 31/03/2026
Mary Tavy Common Fire Mitigation (DNP-FPL-364)

This project seeks to secure wildfire mitigation equipment that will enable continued habitat management and effective wildfire prevention on Mary Tavy common. With the recognised increase in fire load across the Dartmoor commons, the risk to the habitat from uncontrolled wildfires is significantly heightened. This equipment to be used by the commoners in the case of a wildfire, alongside the fire service.

£3,278.7221/08/2025 - 31/03/2026
Meadow Restoration Collective (DNP-FPL-367)

This project aims to support a Chagford based group of small holders, enabling full scale hay meadow restoration across our combined 86 hectares of land. This included support towards a seed separator to clean the brush harvested seed, alongside a hydraulic arm, allowing easier and safer transportation between their farms. These items will improve the processing ability of the collective to harvest, collect, sort and redistribute a wide variety of wild hay meadow seed in order to support biodiversity and improve soil health across the three farms.

£4,387.6002/09/2025 - 31/03/2026
Greenwell Farm - Wool Packing & Storage Improvements (DNP-FPL-369)Since 2017, Greenwell Farm have been utilising an existing barn on site to store, pack and collect Dartmoor wool for members of the farming community. This project aims to improve their existing wool packing and storage process, by supporting the purchase of a Wool Press and accompanying Weigh Bar. In conjunction with this, infrastructure improvements will be made to the wool storage barn, enabling a cleaner and drier wool baling and storage system. Wool remains undervalued and underused, and this project provides an opportunity to add value to this ‘waste product’, and in turn contribute to a more resilient local wool economy.£24,886.2803/09/2025 - 31/03/2026
Ruddycleave Rhos Pasture Restoration  (DNP-FPL-370)

This project aims to restore degraded Rhos Pasture habitat and improve connectivity to the adjacent common. The site needed a corridor of scrub and encroaching tree clearance, as recommended by Butterfly Conservation, because the adjacent habitat is currently in good condition with an existing population of Marsh fritillary butterflies residing there. Therefore, the work aims to improve and connect habitat, as well as allow the introduction of controlled conservation grazing by installing fencing around the perimeter.

£17,788.8003/09/2025 - 31/03/2026
Brimpts Farm - Access for All Trail (DNP-FPL-371)A project aiming to upgrade and improve the existing self-guided walking trail at Brimpts Farm by creating a new formal ‘Access for All’ walking route so that all ability levels can access and enjoy the surrounding landscape. In addition to this, the longer extension of the trail will be improved to benefit the public, which includes surface improvements, picnic benches, signage and interpretation. Due to the typography of the East Dart river valley there is a lack of accessible walking routes in the area, therefore this project provides an exciting opportunity to allow the public to explore, experience and understand this area of Dartmoor.£21,208.6103/09/2025 - 31/03/2026
Yellands Farm - Grazing Improvements (DNP-FPL-366)

The purchase of a mobile water trough and portable electric fencing/energizer kit to enable short-duration, high‑frequency rotational grazing across 10 ha of pasture, supporting ongoing meadow restoration and conservation grazing across the farm. This project also included the purchase of a bale unroller to facilitate a rotational grazing system and reduce winter damage by the existing ring feeder, along with 1 ha of encroaching gorse and scrub clearance to increase an area of meadow restoration.

£4,574.3504/09/2025 - 31/03/2026
Epona Access Improvements (DNP-FPL-368)

A project centred around the creation of a 300m permissive path through the land at Epona, which will link up two popular Public Rights of Way routes, creating a more accessible and enjoyable route for the public. This included the installing accessible gateways with trombone handles and resurfacing a track to make it more suitable for all ability levels to access the land. In addition to this, 60  metres of diverse hedgerow was planted to improve habitat connectivity, and electric fencing was purchased to allow improved control of livestock on the site.

£9,138.3011/09/2025 - 31/03/2026
Dartmoor Commoners Council - Cattle Behaviour Training (DNP-FPL-373)

The delivery of a one-day cattle behaviour course, led by cattle behaviour expert Miriam Parker, enabling participating graziers to build skills to better understand behavioural drivers and mitigate cattle incidents. This project also included the provision of cattle signage, which participating graziers can install on the common to improve public awareness and education.

£3,16829/09/2025 - 31/03/2026
Lydford Railway Pond Restoration (DNP-FPL-372)To restore the dam and spillway at Lydford Railway Ponds SSSI, and install a new penstock. The Lydford Railway Ponds are recognised for their exceptionally diverse dragonfly and damselfly populations, in addition to damselfly fauna, which led to its classification as a SSSI. This project only includes the restoration of the reservoir pond - the initial pond that captures and holds water that runs off the neighbouring Common (Gibbet Hill, West Blackdown). This will stop water from draining away too quickly, restore the important pond habitat, and allow more control over the pond’s water level and help to protect the nearby River Burn. The project also includes the installation of two interpretation boards on site to support future ongoing educational visits for local school children.£24,307.2008/10/2025 - 31/03/2026
Affinity Deer Management Drone (DNP-FPL-377)

A project supporting the purchase of a thermal imagery drone to enable improved identification, monitoring, mapping and recording of deer across the existing large landowners the applicant works with, such as the Woodland Trust and National Trust, and also the Teign Valley Facilitation Fund and East Dartmoor Landscape Recovery. This will enable improved herd structure data to be mapped and recorded, such as species, age and sex, which will then inform evidence-led and collaborative deer management at a landscape-scale.

£3,94808/10/2025 - 31/03/2026
Bury the Giant III: Showcase Event (DNP-FPL-381)

This is the third and final phase of a 3 year project that revolves around 'The Mossy Carpet', created by the Art and Energy Collective. This collection of upcycled yarn pompoms and textile tufts stitched to Dartmoor wool fleece, has been created by thousands of volunteers over more than two years and is now over 80m long. Over the course of the project, the Collective have worked with numerous schools, farmers, commoners as well as members of the public and various stake holder organisations around Dartmoor to educate and celebrate the (pompom) mosses of our peatland landscapes, which hold giant volumes of carbon underground, create fantastic and diverse habitats as well as slow the flow and filter our water.  This final phase includes a week-long local event displaying exhibitions, talks, displays and films to engage a wider and new audience in the importance of land management, especially on Dartmoor.

£9,96310/10/2025 - 31/03/2026