We held a well attended Annual General Meeting on Saturday the 13th of June at Yelverton War Memorial Hall, consisting of formal business in the morning and a mini conference in the afternoon. Three Trustees were re-elected by members and we are delighted that John Howell, Gian Ellis and Nathan Fuller will be continuing in their vital roles within the DPA. John Howell has served as Chair of the Dartmoor Preservation Association for many years as Trustee and chair, bringing access expertise and a deep personal commitment to Dartmoor. Under his chairmanship the DPA has contributed meaningfully to the Supreme Court victory protecting the right to wild camp, significantly renewed and diversified its trustee body, and grown its influence and financial resilience substantially. Gian was first appointed as a Trustee in January 2023, bringing environmental expertise to the board. He has been an active participant in the DPA’s conservation and land management work and contributes particularly on ecology and nature recovery matters. Nathan was first appointed as a Trustee in January 2023, bringing charity fundraising expertise. He continues to contribute significantly on fundraising strategy and youth engagement.

Alongside these re-elections, we also said a grateful goodbye to Trustee William Fell, who has now served his maximum term and is due to retire. William Fell has served the DPA as a Trustee for nine years and as a member for many decades. We are enormously grateful for his dedication, his wisdom and the breadth of expertise he has brought to the board from careers spanning government, commercial and charitable sectors. As the DPA’s financial trustee, William played a pivotal role in driving the move to stronger governance and financial controls — a legacy that has left the organisation on significantly firmer foundations than he found it. His institutional knowledge, calm judgement and long view of what the DPA stands for have been invaluable, particularly through the challenging years of the wild camping legal battle. We are very sorry to be losing him and thank him sincerely for many years of defending Dartmoor. We hope he will remain a friend of the DPA for many years to come.

Our CEO, Tom Usher, updated our members on the work of the DPA throughout the previous year, highlighting the success of our Moor Boots grant scheme, our Public Access Fund launch and our ongoing influence on boards and within parliament. The DPA continue to have a strong voice in all matters relating to Dartmoor and we are actively working to partner with like-minded organisations to increase our influence further. Thanks was extended to our staff: Helen Bruce, Carole Chersterton and contracted Ecologist Albert Knott. A lively discussion followed this update where questions were asked about our ecological monitoring on our land holdings and our ongoing sponsorship of archaeological projects. Albert Knott shared that we have successfully made lots of new contacts this year, including the Southwest lichen group visiting Sharpitor to add to the previous survey, RSPB surveys at Swincombe and High House Waste for breeding birds and a Devonshire association botany group visit to both sites to health check past surveys and make sure they are up to date. We have also worked with Teignbridge wildlife wardens to do bat surveys in Pudsham Meadows and completed a survey there with Devon Moth Group, catching over 100 moths in one night. Tom explained that both our previous sponsored archaeologists had successfully completed their PhDs and that we were open to sponsoring new work, which could be related to archaeology, ecology or another research topic.

Following a lunch break, we then heard from Emma Magee from the Duchy of Cornwall. Emma is the Head of Communities and Nature for the Duchy of Cornwall, working on Dartmoor. Tasked with delivering an ambitious vision spanning protected habitats, upland livelihoods and innovative delivery mechanisms this work necessitates working in partnership and close collaboration with a wide range of partners. From peatland restoration and upland commons, through ancient oak woodland and highly biodiverse grasslands, via curlew and other upland birds, Emma has practical experience of delivering results on the ground. Emma has strong experience in catchment management, having worked on hydrological restoration and conservation projects improving condition and extent of priority habitats as well as delivering natural flood management and biodiversity benefits. We were lucky to hear about the Duchy’s plans for Princetown first hand, which included a commitment to seeing environmental change, greater support for people and nature, and benefit for young people. Looking to the future, Emma said that there are exciting and overlapping opportunities of work, and that the DPA is giving a deeper focus and attention than the Duchy is able to give in places. Thinking about access support, there is opportunity to work together, both on physical access and other types of access support.

We also said a fond farewell to Kevin Bishop, former CEO of Dartmoor National Park, and thanked him for his services to Dartmoor by presenting him with a framed painting by celebrated landscape artist Frederick John Widgery. Appointed on the 1st of October 2007, Kevin Bishop has led the Dartmoor National Park Authority through a period of profound change and progress, shaping national thinking on nature restoration, climate action, access to the outdoors, and collaborative land management. His departure marks the end of an era for one of the UK’s most cherished landscapes. After nearly two decades at the helm, Kevin has departed from his post as Chief Executive of Dartmoor National Park Authority and been succeeded by Tom Surrey. The DPA would like to extend their sincere thanks for the energy and passion which Kevin has brought to his role. We have had the pleasure of working alongside him throughout his career with the National Park and we wish him all the best for the future.

As always, we are hugely grateful for members attending our Annual General Meetings to help guide the DPA’s vision and priorities for the future. This meeting offered an opportunity for some really excellent discussion and has certainly given all who joined us new knowledge and perspectives to consider.