Stakeholder attitudes to the narratives of the Dartmoor Commons: tradition and the search for consensus in a time of change.

Abstract

For over 40 years there has been conflict between hill-farmers and conservationists over the way that the Commons of Dartmoor have been farmed and the impacts that this has had on the moor’s habitats, wildlife, peat and archaeology. This thesis looks at the attitudes of the various stakeholder groups involved via the use of semi-structured interviews. It uses Narrative Policy Analysis and the Narrative Policy Framework to construct and analyse a series of stakeholder narratives in an attempt to understand why the issues are so contested and the search for consensus has been so elusive. It shows how the dominant policy narrative has evolved over time and how this has been impacted by a series of competing counter narratives, in particular those focusing on grazing intensity and vegetation burning techniques. It details how restrictions to farming methods have impacted on traditional hill-farming practices and have led to a series of unintended consequences. As a result, further counter narratives have emerged, which either seek consensus between all the stakeholders or promote specific interests in an attempt to favour the wildlife, the archaeology, the hydrology or a re-wilded landscape. It shows that the issues on Dartmoor are complex and nuanced and it is suggested that historically some of the leading narratives have been too narrow in their focus and as a result may have missed other important causal factors such as atmospheric pollution and climate change. Hill-farming and as a result the traditional practices which have created the moorland landscapes for which Dartmoor is famous, are under considerable pressure as a result of changes to subsidy payments as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, the economic prospects for hill-farming generally and climate change. This narrative approach to the environmental and hill-farming conflicts on Dartmoor has identified areas which should be addressed so the moor’s special character can be conserved and enhanced as a pastoral landscape, at least in part, into the future.