Tavistock’s MP is calling for a ‘workable and practical solution’ to protect Dartmoor’s ponies as a drastic reduction in the number of livestock allowed to overwinter on Dartmoor’s commons looms.

Sir Geoffrey Cox’s call comes as campaigners warn farmers are likely to cull their ponies this autumn, as they decide to overwinter sheep and cattle on the commons instead.

This is to comply with agri-environment agreements between Natural England and each individual farmer, which are seeing permitted livestock numbers reduced by up to 75 per cent in a bid to protect the commons from ecological harm.

Sir Geoffrey Cox is calling on the government to implement a recommendation from the Fursdon Review of 2023, which recommended that ponies be left out of any calculation of stocking rates in agri-environment schemes.

Sir Geoffrey said: “In 2023, I secured The Fursdon Review into the management of Dartmoor. The review, which was universally well received, recommended in December 2023 that the Dartmoor pony should not be grouped with cattle or sheep when calculating stocking rates in agri-environment schemes. While that remains the case, there will always be a danger to the continued survival of Dartmoor ponies.

“The Secretary of State was considering the recommendation in June 2024 when the general election was called. Since then, I have sought to persuade the new ministers of the need to implement the Fursdon Review in full.

“The implementation of the recommendation on Dartmoor ponies is long overdue. I hope very much that this renewed attention to the issue will result in practical and workable solutions, which will require serious engagement from the government.

“Until now the signs have not been good. The annual Dartmoor Forum, which I chair, has always attracted the attendance of a senior minister including Secretaries of State. This year, ministers, although saying they would attend, have so far been reluctant to commit to a date to discuss these important issues. It is not enough simply to write a few tweets of sympathy. We must see real engagement and action.”

The semi-wild Dartmoor pony is is close to being an endangered species. The number of ponies on the moor has reduced from 1,000 from around 6,000 25 years ago, the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association says.

It has launched a petition, which has already attracted more than 145,000 signatures, to have the pony protected as the new restrictions come in.

Its petition on change.org is open until the end of August. The association then plan to present it to Defra, the government department responsible for food production, farmers and the environment.

The reduction stocking levels has come about after numerous studies have shown the biodiversity of the moor’s SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) to be severely degraded.

Many environmentalists want most livestock removed from the commons as a result.

However, the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association, championing the pony, says that the ponies play a unique role in keeping down the invasive Molinia grass on the moor which stifle other smaller delicate plants. In this way the ponies encourage biodiversity rather than damage it.

And Natural England has meanwhile said it has no powers to order any mass cull of ponies.

A spokesperson said: "Natural England has not recommended a cull of Dartmoor ponies. We do not have the power to order a cull, and we have not advised one."