Following on from our last blog where we covered what's been happening over the last few weeks; An Update on Wild Camping 🏕. We're now looking at how we can both raise awareness and support both the immediate threat to wild camping on Dartmoor, and how we can engage with helping more people experience the wonders of Dartmoor.

Activism takes many forms and while there is a place for protests, gatherings and shouting from the tor tops (we love this) in order to engage a legal battle in court, huge funds are needed and if we're all able to, we need to play a part in supporting that action too.

Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) are appealing the courts decision and will target a non permissive system for wild camping - this will mean you won't need permission to wild camp on Dartmoor and that those rights won't be able to be be taken away in the future. 

This is going to be costly and it will put a major strain on DNPA. With the visitors centre in Princetown already under threat due to finances, it is important that we recognise that if we want it all, we have to be prepared to put our hands in our pockets. 

The Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) has launched a fund raising campaign to directly support the DNPA in appealing the court and targeting a rights based system for wild campers to enjoy Dartmoor. 

We agree that DNPA will need financial help and we agree that the only reasonable resolution for this whole situation, in order to secure access for future generations of wild campers, is to secure rights based access. Anything less would be changeable, reducible and would leave no real legal route forward for wild camping should it be challenged in the future.

 

Many small actions equal a big action. If we all give a little, we'll come together as a community and make a big difference.

Get social. Spread the word. Direct people you know and your social followers to a place where they can learn about what's happening and make an informed decision on what they can do to get involved (like pointing them to this blog!).

Giving money to support a cause is an individual decision, but it is important to know what will happen in the case that DNPA decide to to leave the appeal, lose the appeal or the funds are in excess of what is used. Whilst this is all detailed on the Just Giving page we wanted to shed some light on some organisations that may benefit from this appeal, and show ways that you can directly support these great initiatives. 

Moor Boots - A project to provide, for free, proper footwear and camping equipment to underprivileged children so they can take part in activities like DoE, Scouts and TenTors without the cost that would normally prevent them.