Founded in 1883, the DPA is the oldest and one of the largest conservation groups on Dartmoor. We have an active team of conservation volunteers who put in an over 1500 hours worth of work on the moor each year, both on DPA land and locations belonging to other landowners.

The core of the DPAs conservation work is managing its 4 land holdings. These unique and special areas of Dartmoor saved by the DPA from development, range from a wild open tor to sheltered orchid meadows and our flag-ship site; High House Waste. High House Waste includes one of the few Dartmoor SSSIs in favourable condition and includes Bronze age hut circles, a medieval farmstead, rich biodiversity and Atlantic oak rainforest. We always need support at HHW, new volunteers are welcome to join us, especially in the autumn/winter.

Our hay meadows at Pudsham are classed as a priority habitat and County Wildlife Site which benefits from a careful DPA management plan, designed to maintain the delicate balance of the ecosystem. This includes cutting back bracken in late summer and allowing short-term pony grazing in late summer/autumn to prevent the colonization of dominant and invasive species.

As well as working on our land, DPA volunteers also undertake a number of independent projects to care for the archaeology of Dartmoor:

Clearance work at Huccaby Rings ensures that this Bronze Age feature is spared from being overgrown by gorse and bracken, the thick roots of which can extensively damage underground archaeological remains. As a monument scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, Huccaby Rings plays an important part in helping us connect with the way in which our ancestors interacted with Dartmoor.

At Roborough Down, our volunteers collaborate with Butterfly Conservation to clear invasive plant species. It is important to allow native wildflowers enough light and space to thrive, as these offer vital food sources for the butterflies at various stages of their life cycle.

Buckland Common; an important Bronze age site has been almost entirely maintained by our volunteers, working with Historic England and the National Park they have clear acres of bracken and scrub over many years to reveal this ancient and important site.

Other projects include clearance of the historic Drake’s Leat, maintenance of Grimspound and work on Fritillary butterfly habitats with our partners at Shallowford Farm Trust.

None of this work would be possible without our dedicated volunteers, and we are proud to bring together people from different backgrounds, including corporate volunteers from big businesses and local people wanting to do good for Dartmoor. Building a sense of shared responsibility and community support around conservation and biodiversity goals helps us move towards a vision of Dartmoor that is healthy, accessible and resilient. Connecting with nature and being social outdoors is also, of course, excellent for the health of our volunteers.

The DPA run workdays and guided walks throughout the year, all of which are free.  Members and non-members are warmly welcomed, plus we have capacity to accommodate large groups from local businesses that want to ‘give something back’ or spend a day team building over conservation work.

Interested in finding out more? Email us at info@dartmoorpreservation.co.uk or browse our online calendar.