'Don't turn Exmoor into a giant safari park' says MP, who claims locals' concerns are being ignored
Exmoor National Park Authority are in danger of turning the area into a giant safari park, according to Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger.
The MP says he's not surprised there’s been opposition to the so-called ‘rewilding’ plans for large parts of the park - which he claims will see a rise in animals like lynxes.
In response, the park authority say many landowners and farmers support their plans to help nature recover.
The authority has announced a scheme to use at least 10 per cent of the park - 26 square miles - to create wilder areas such as wetlands, scrub and woodlands.
Detailed proposals were approved by Exmoor’s nature conservation advisory panel, drawn largely from external wildlife organisations.
Final proposals will be published in the spring and park officials say they are consulting with hill farming groups.
Mr Liddell-Grainger said: "That is national park speak for telling them what has already been decided."
The MP, whose Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency includes two-thirds of Exmoor, said he was being 'deluged with complaints about the plan from farmers' - with a protest meeting already being organised.
He added: "The park authority is acting as though it owns the place, which it doesn’t,
He claimed the rewilding proposals had been 'unduly influenced by the conservation lobby with the interests of farmers largely ignored'.
"Only a few thousand acres are in its hands," he added.
"The rest is farmland where people are trying to make a living while keeping the nation supplied with food. But that fact appears to have been completely overlooked in all this.
"But we are back to the old Exmoor problem of having policy imposed by outsiders.
"As usual the interests of those who live and work in the park come a long way down the priority list.
"Farming on Exmoor has always had to be subsidised because the climate and poor soils make it economically unviable.
"That is still the case - the last farm the National Trust had available on its Holnicote Estate came with a warning that the new tenant would need a second income.
"On the other hand farmers have delivered huge value for money in terms of keeping the moor looking beautiful. Through them the national park authority has effectively had conservation on the cheap.
"Back in the 80s Exmoor was also the birthplace of the management agreement under which farmers could be compensated for foregone profits in return for allowing land to remain - or become - wild.
"But now the authority appears quite happy to throw farmers under a bus in order to create some kind of massive safari park. And what really concerns me is not so much what is in this plan as what isn’t because my information is that its more enthusiastic supporters are already talking in terms of introducing lynx.
"I suppose they could have a predatory role to play if the beavers start breeding out of control but on the other hand there would be plenty of other potential meals for them including sheep, cattle and Exmoor ponies.
"This is frankly bizarre behaviour by a national park authority which only a few years ago was trying to stop a local wildlife park keeping kookaburras because they were a non-indigenous species.
"The farming community has my full backing in standing up to this ridiculous plan."
A spokesperson for the Exmoor National Park Authority said: "The future of farming and the environment are inextricably linked so it’s not the case of supporting one at the expense of the other. Both need to thrive.
"Many farmers and landowners on Exmoor share our passion for nature and already contribute an enormous amount towards caring for the landscape.
"Our Vision is about using our combined expertise to look strategically at those success stories and for the first-time map at scale the opportunities for nature recovery.
"It follows Government calls this week for bold England-wide action to deliver a national Nature Recovery Network, alongside a landmark Agricultural Act that Environment Minister George Eustice refers to as centred on ‘incentivising sustainable farming practices, creating habitats for nature recovery and supporting the establishment of new woodland and other ecosystem services to help tackle challenges like climate change.
"We want Exmoor, and in particular its farmers and foresters, to be at the forefront of these new developments as part of several ongoing farmer-led initiatives we have initiated to shape and inform the future of farm support.
"This is not about telling people what they can and can’t do on their own land, but rather empowering everyone to work together in delivering a greener, more vibrant and resilient National Park for future generations."