South West Lakes Trust have shared their 2023/24 impact report, containing updates on their work focused on public access, conservation, education and recreation. The Dartmoor Preservation Association is delighted to continue to work in partnership with the Trust, delivering meaningful impact as part of ongoing conservation work.

The Dartmoor Green Recovery Project has involved working with commoners and tenant graziers at Burrator, which has helped make interventions which will benefit wildlife, improve welfare conditions for livestock and support a long-term vision for biodiverse habitats which visitors can enjoy. Volunteers working alongside the South West Lakes team have taken part in practical days such as leaky dam construction and tree planting at Burrator and Venford. Surveys at Venford found many exciting species, including hazel dormice, at least 11 bat species and 14 veteran trees.

Important archaeological features around Burrator Reservoir have been cleared of intrusive vegetation, including rhododendron and bracken, thanks to volunteers. South West Lakes Trust manage 25 scheduled archaeological monuments around the reservoir on Dartmoor. They range from prehistoric stone hut circles to cairns (burial mounds) and post-medieval farmsteads. Volunteers used ‘bracken bashers’ – thin metal sticks – to manually beat back bracken, which if left unchecked can damage these nationally important examples of prehistoric settlements and tin mining activity.

In September 2023, South West Lakes Trust hosted an Enliven Project event at Burrator Reservoir. This was organised in collaboration with the Tavistock Memory Café, Cycling Without Age, Dartmoor National Park Authority and representatives from the University of Exeter, who run the national Enliven Project. A group of 28 individuals, including those living with dementia and their carers, had a guided trishaw tour around Burrator Arboretum, where they discovered the site’s rich history and ecology. Upgrades to the paths around the arboretum at the beginning of the year improved accessibility, enabling more people to connect with nature first hand. This project supported the ongoing ‘Miles Without Stiles’ work around Dartmoor.

Alongside the DPA, South West Lakes Trust is also partnering with The South West Peatland Partnership. SWPP is a collaboration between businesses, government agencies, charities, landowners, farmers and other organisations, working to restore over 2,500 hectares of degraded peatland across West Penwith, Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor before 2025. Through restoration the SWPP is working to prevent 652,625 tonnes of CO2 equivalent from being released as peatlands continue to degrade. South West Lakes works as a key partner, supporting works on peatlands near lakes across the moors, such as recent works at Crowdy Marsh on Bodmin Moor, near Crowdy Reservoir, and areas of dried peatland near Burrator on Dartmoor. 

We are delighted to see access to Dartmoor and projects promoting biodiversity on the moor championed so successfully. Partnership working is a really effective way to increase reach and impact, and the DPA hope to create further collaborative opportunities in 2025.