DARTMOOR farmers are preparing the groundwork to road test Defra’s Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) Moorland Standard. The work will feed into the development of Defra’s Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS). It will also assess whether the proposed payments - to farmers who manage some of the least financially productive, but most ecologically important landscapes - will work in practice.

The first area that the initiative will be rolled out is on the Peter Tavy Common, as well as two other commons in England. Julia Aglionby, executive director of the Foundation for Common Land and chair of the Uplands Alliance, explains: ‘First enshrined in law in the Magna Carta, and once making up nearly half of Britain, now only 3% of land in England is common land. It’s incredibly important open land, with delicate ecosystems, which we can all access and enjoy.

Commons give us food and clean water, absorb rainfall, and are home to important wildlife and archaeology. Those who look after them need to be properly recognised and paid fairly for what that involves. This 12-month test and trial is a long-awaited step to proper payment.

Dartmoor Facilitator and commoner Tracy May, said: ‘It’s important that Commoners undertake this work as it will give them a better understanding of what is on their common and how well or badly it’s delivering public goods. This will create a future management plan that’s workable for farming businesses and the environment.’

► A free webinar will take place on November 9 at 7.30pm to provide further information, visit: https://foundationforcommonland.org.uk