Livestock Grazing on Dartmoor National Park

Lord Gardiner of Kimble Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that. I will not direct the movement of ponies or any other livestock from this Dispatch Box, but it is an interesting idea. I am sure that Natural England and lots of people on Dartmoor—commoners, graziers and others—would like to keep all their ponies there. But it is an interesting idea.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Con)]

My Lords, I ask the Minister to reflect on the importance of balance in the countryside between the interests of farming and conservation. One of the lessons I think we should take from this is that there has not been proper co-ordination of the impact on rural communities of this proposal. I hope that, within the Defra family, there will be a much greater concentration on co-ordination of the impact. The noble Baroness spoke about the importance of the pony in dealing with Molinia, an invasive grass. This is a key part of why this endangered species, the Dartmoor pony, should be cherished by everyone, rather than a potential reduction in numbers even being thought of.

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right, as I would expect from his long experience and interest in these matters, about the importance of tackling that invasive species, Molinia, and the role that both ponies and cattle have in tackling it. That is why Natural England is looking at the best way to get appropriate grazing in the appropriate parts of Dartmoor. To go to his wider point, though, we recognise the important role of countryside stewardship that commons graziers, farmers and indeed people who live in the countryside take. That is why Defra is bringing together partners from across Whitehall and beyond, through its Defra-led Rural Taskforce, to make sure that all its policies are rural-proofed from the get-go, rather than there being a patch-and-mend approach to policies after the event.