Prince William's desperate mission as 'things need to change' with royal icon
Dartmoor National Park faces greater heat stress for crops and livestock in summer and increased and more extreme rainfall in winter, according to the Met Office's research
Prince William has vowed to embark on an ambitious project to help restore Dartmoor National Park.
Climate projections by the Met Office for the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate of the heir to the throne, are bleak as they show it will face greater heat stress for crops and livestock in summer and increased and more extreme rainfall in winter. Matthew Morris, rural director for the Duchy of Cornwall, said Dartmoor has been a grazed landscape for millennia, but "I think we are all agreed things need to change".
And the Prince of Wales is leading the fight, backing a plan which will support wildlife alongside farming by reestablishing more traditional summer grazing seasons for cattle, sheep and ponies. The duchy and the Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery (CDLR) project will also enforce rest periods for the land to give it time to recover and allow biodiversity to blossom.
The duchy owns about 68,000 acres - 28 per cent - of Dartmoor, which became a National Park in 1951. As the Duchy of Cornwall is within the national park, Dartmoor is regarded in some circles as a royal treasure - or icon - and has long associations with The Firm.
The national park contains three of the largest moorland Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the country, but none is in a "favourable condition", with rare moorland birds, such as golden plover, red grouse and ring ouzels, all but disappearing from the area.
Writing in the foreword to the Landscape Vision for Dartmoor, William says: "Like the thousands of young people who set out on the Ten Tors Challenge each year, knowing your destination is essential before setting off on any journey. The Dartmoor Vision provides that destination.
"It shows us what might be possible and how that might be achieved. It is bold and ambitious and something that I hope, by working together, can be delivered for not just the current generation but for generations to come."
The royal adds to "keep Dartmoor special we must respond to the twin challenges of global warming and the requirement to restore nature, while ensuring the communities on Dartmoor can thrive"
Climate scenarios predicting 2C of warming suggest Dartmoor may even stop being suitable for blanket peatland, leading to erosion and carbon release. Around 40 concerned landowners and farmers have got involved with William's project, which has several key aims.
The 130-page Landscape Vision for Dartmoor document also details how the plan will aim to restorie peatlands, shelter rivers with heavily wooded valleys, and carry out large-scale natural flood management. The project will also provide affordable housing for landscape managers and retiring workers.
Upward of 10,000 head of cattle were droved to the moor annually from nearby Devon parishes, records going back as far as the duchy's ownership starting in 1337 show.
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