WILD JUSTICE—A COMPLETE UPDATE

Good morning, Today we bring you a few updates including a guest blog on our recent legal action about overgrazing on Dartmoor, news of a brilliant campaign to restore the incredible and valuable natural landscape of Dartmoor and also share some news about 'Wild Justice on Sea' and this year's 'Wild Summit'. Our Dartmoor grazing case – a deep dive into the judgement In March of this year, we finally received news that we had won our legal challenge, ruling that parts of Dartmoor had been mismanaged. We had argued that the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council (DCC) had failed to carry out its statutory legal duties to safeguard protected sites on Dartmoor, allowing overgrazing to impact wildlife and damage habitats. You can find out more about the initial stages of the case here and the court’s ruling here. Tony Whitehead, an environmental campaigner and a member of the Dartmoor Nature Alliance has written a brilliant in-depth overview of the judgement and what it means going forward for grazing on Dartmoor and for the wider governance of England’s common land. To read the blog, follow this link. Our legal challenge has put the issue of grazing on Dartmoor, and the urgent need for improved assessment and regulation of habitat management, squarely on the government’s agenda. Last month, you might have seen the whirlwind of media around the spurious claims that Dartmoor ponies would be culled under new government plans. Despite the media fanfare and airtime this story received, these allegations were utterly false. You can read the Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s response to the media furore here and Natural England’s blog which gave detailed responses to all claims made in the media. As a result of the misleading press coverage, Natural England published a press release on 15 July revealing a sudden decision to introduce new protective legislation for Dartmoor Ponies. You can read the press release here and the Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s response by clicking this link. Bring back Dartmoor’s rainforests - Dartmoor Nature Alliance campaign Still on the subject of Dartmoor and its incredible habitats… Dartmoor is home to three temperate rainforests – all remnants of once larger woodlands. These fragile, ancient Oak woodlands support an extraordinary diversity of wildlife, including rare mosses, lichens, ferns and fungi. Once widespread across Britain, temperate rainforests are now one of the rarest ecosystems in the UK, making their protection and restoration a vital part of nature recovery on Dartmoor. In May, the Dartmoor Nature Alliance (DNA) launched a campaign to help expand and improve Dartmoor’s rare temperate rainforests. If you’d like to learn more about these incredible ecosystems, and how you can support the campaign to bring back Dartmoor’s rainforests, follow this link and read Guy Shrubsole’s blog by clicking here. Wild Justice on Sea Thank you to all of those who expressed an interest in joining us for a boat trip in Poole Harbour - nearly 500 of you applied for tickets! On Friday we sent invites out to a group of randomly selected applicants - please check your junk box to make sure you didn't miss it. If there are any outstanding places as of Friday 31st July, we'll be drawing some extra names out of the hat. Keep an eye out! Wild Justice at Wild Summit Wild Summit returns to the Bristol Beacon on 9 September 2026 and Wild Justice will be there. We’ll provide more information nearer the time but as well as having a stand, our CEO Bob Elliot will be speaking on the main stage, and we’ll be putting on another entertaining stage show, following last year’s roaring success! We’ll also be launching an exciting new joint project with some of our colleagues. Tickets for Wild Summit are on sale now and we hope to see you there! Thank you, Wild Justice (CEO: Bob Elliot. Directors: Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay). This is the 272nd Wild Justice newsletter. This email was sent to you because you subscribed to it through the Wild Justice website or through an e-action or a petition where you ticked a box. Thank you. We will only use your personal details to send you the Wild Justice newsletter. We will not give or sell your details to anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time: there is an unsubscribe button at the foot of this email or you can reply to this email and ask us to remove you from the list (the former will happen immediately, the latter might take a few days). 124, City Road London Greater London EC1V 2NX UNITED KINGDOM Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options