Upland farming communities as deliverers of cultural and natural heritage

Dartmoor together with other English National Parks and the Lake District World Heritage site are much loved protected landscapes, shaped by generations of pastoralists.

Following the recent independent Dartmoor Review, commissioned by the government, the need for farmers’ voices to be heard in the management of these upland cultural landscapes has come strongly into focus

Join ICOMOS-UK’s Summer Event either in person or online to hear about the Dartmoor Review[1] and how the Review and DEFRA’s Policy paper response[2] should allow local communities to have a stronger voice in the management of our protected landscapes and in the delivery of their cultural as well as natural heritage benefits.

Reception

The event will be followed by an evening reception on the Rooftop - weather permitting

Please note this page is for in-person attendance at the event and reception. If you wish to attend the event remotely, use this link for our online ticket registration.

The event and reception are free to ICOMOS-UK members.

SPEAKERS

David Fursdon, Chair of the Dartmoor Review and Lord-Lieutenant Devon

Why the Dartmoor Review was necessary, the symbiotic relationships between cultural/nature in upland farming, the traditional knowledge systems that underpin farming practices, and how support for farmers should better reflect both the cultural and natural benefits that the landscape delivers.

Will Cockbain, Member of the Dartmoor Review panel and Lake District hill farmer

The mismatch between the value given to upland landscapes and to the farmers that shape those landscapes; why farming communities are more than a collection of farmers, the need for urgent action to sustain the increasingly fragile resilience of farming communities.

Profess Lois Mansfield, Emeritus Professor, the University of Cumbria

Why the Dartmoor Review and DEFRA’s Response can be seen to point to a new direction for understanding, valuing and supporting upland cultural landscapes in line with delivering sustainable outcomes.

Speakers’ Biographies:

David Fursdon

David was educated at St John’s College, Oxford where he was a scholar and cricket blue. He then worked in the MOD-(arms control and disarmament in Whitehall and at the UN Geneva) before moving with his wife to Devon in 1978, where his family has lived for many years. He taught at Blundell’s School in Tiverton where he was later to Chair the Governors (2000-2011). He then worked as a rural Chartered Surveyor in Exeter. He chaired the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) firstly in Devon and then nationally as President during a turbulent time through foot and mouth disease. After this he became a Commissioner of the Crown Estate dealing with rural and commercial property portfolios and renewable energy and then also of English Heritage (chairing the business committee during the re-development of the visitor centre at Stonehenge). After serving on the Board of the SWRDA, he chaired the London 2012 South-west Board before and during the Olympics. More recently he chaired the Government’s ‘Future of Farming’ review (to bring more new entrants into agriculture), DEFRA’s SW Rural and Farming Network and was on the Board of Historic Houses and was on the board of the National Trust. He currently chairs both Sir James Dyson’s farming company and the Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture. He is also a trustee of the Royal Countryside Fund and a Commissioner and trustee of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. He has supported the NSPCC (chairing the Devon Full Stop Appeal) and affordable housing initiatives (serving on the Affordable Rural Housing Commission and Rural Housing Policy Group). He has run his own businesses in tourism, property, agriculture and consultancy. He was High Sheriff of Devon in 2009.

Appointed HM Lord-Lieutenant of Devon in April 2015

Will Cockbain

Will Cockbain is a Lake District hill farmer farming at Rakefoot just outside Keswick, the farm keeps Swaledale sheep, suckler cattle and native Fell and Dales ponies. Apart from being a practical farmer Will has been involved in many other roles.

He was appointed to the then MAFF hill farming advisory group in 1995 until 2001. He was Cumbria NFU County chairman in 2002. In 2004 he was appointed NFU National uplands spokesman playing a leading role in the negotiation of the Uplands Entry Level Scheme. He stood down from this role in 2012, From 2006 until 2011 he was The North West Sustainable Food and Farming Champion, working along side eight other regional chairs under the chairmanship of Sir Don Curry. In 2011 he was appointed to the board of Natural England, before standing down in 2018.

Latterly he was the Chairman of the Swaledale Sheep breeders Association 2017 until 2023. He was part of the Defra appointed Dartmoor inquiry panel looking at various issues across Dartmoor with the report published November 2023. In January he was a keynote speaker at the Oxford farming conference going head to head with Ben Goldsmith in the main evening debate. focusing on the role of livestock in the uplands.

Professor Lois Mansfield

Lois Mansfield is Emeritus Professor at the University of Cumbria and currently the Chair of the Technical Advisory Group for the Lake District World Heritage Site. Most of her 30-year career has been spent advocating the importance of maintaining viable upland agro-pastoral systems. When she is not working on her private consultancy, www.environmentors.co.uk , she is writing her latest book focusing on the application of a multiple capitals approach for farm resilience employing case studies from the UK, Japan and the Paramo.

[1] Dartmoor Review was Chaired by David Fursdon and published in December 2023. It was undertaken following the strong concerns expressed by farmers, the Country Landowners Association and Devon MPs that Natural England’s plans to reduce grazing levels were compromising the viability of farms. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-protected-site-management-on-dartmoor

[2] DEFRA’s Policy paper: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/10/acting-on-the-recommendations-of-the-dartmoor-review/

Host or Publisher ICOMOS-UK