With a new volunteer workday leader at the helm, DPA Conservation Volunteers have expanded their work on Drake's Leat, where it crosses Roborough Common. Stephen Barrow has years of experience leading...

Following on from the creation of our refreshed Land Management plans, Ecologist Albert Knott has been working to gather baseline information on the flora and fauna of DPA land holdings. As well as li...

The wide vistas and patchwork colours of Dartmoor have a powerful ability to inspire awe and wonder, especially when viewed from the vantage point of one of its many tors. The joy that often accompani...

Now in its second year, our Summer Gathering is an opportunity for members and allies to come together to socialise and gain an insight into some of our work over the past twelve months. This year we ...

Conservation work on DPA owned land at High House Waste has now expanded into the Southern Mire, with our volunteers beginning the task of clearing gorse from the mire margins and cutting new access t...

This has been our second year leading a storywalk as part of the Dartmoor Outdoor Festival, and these walks are always extremely popular. The focus for our walk this time was witches and the wild hunt...

Late August is the perfect time to see Dartmoor's heather in bloom, offering a photographer's dream palate of vibrant purple alongside bright yellow gorse and the iconic grey granite tors. This year, ...

Having awarded almost 20 grants through our Public Access Fund so far this year, we're delighted to see many of these projects now being delivered in the National Park. Becky Harrison, from Pathwinds ...

In late summer, DPA Ecologist Albert Knott led a guided tour of our land at Pudsham Meadows for local art group, Granite Elements. The idea was to encounter some of the special flora and fauna on site...

A Remarkable Feat of Construction Drake’s Leat (or Plymouth Leat) has been a conservation focus for Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) for many years, as it’s a remarkable feat of constructio...

Venford Mediaeval Farmstead is one of the sites, beyond our own four land holdings, which DPA Conservation Volunteers help to care for. The farmstead is situated South-west of Venford Reservoir and is...

Today, the 11th of August 2026, is the 150th anniversary of the Commons Act 1876, the Act which spelt the death knell for the parliamentary inclosure of common land in England and Wales. Our friends a...

The time of year has come for the annual bracken cut at Pudsham Meadows, and our Conservation Volunteers turned out in force to clear the fields of this fast growing plant. We're keen to retain some b...

Botanists from the Devonshire Association Botany Section visited our land holding at High House Waste, in search of White Beaked Sedge. With the latin name of Rhynchospora alba, this uncommon plant ca...

The Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest national conservation body and leading champion for the protection of common land and village greens, marks the twentieth anniversary of the Commons Act 2006 ...

Ashburton Primary School has been awarded £1000 through the DPA's Public Access Fund to help deliver 'My Patch for Pine Martens: Young Guardians of Ausewell Woods.' This grant is in addition to fundin...

As part of our 2026 Programme of Partnership Walks, we were joined by performance artist Avoca on our land holding at Sharpitor for a sound and landscape connection walk. This was an invitation to col...

Join us for an informative and practical day understanding more about an array of woodland creation approaches in Dartmoor’s river valleys.

On Saturday the 27th of June Dartmoor played host to the Ellwood Classic National Walling Competition for the first time. Wallers travelled from all over the country to take part in a day of competiti...

Our summer workday at Common Wood had a focus on clearing bracken encroachment for the benefit of Marsh Fritillary butterflies. These threatened butterflies require areas of flower rich wet grassland,...

10 members of the Devonshire Association Botany Section came on a site visit to our land in the Swincombe valley on the 20th of June. These included the BSBI (Botanical Society for the British Isles) ...

On Wednesday the 10th of June we held our annual orchid count at Pudsham Meadows, as part of our long term monitoring of biodiversity and health of the site. DPA Conservation Volunteers were joined by...