England's Suffering Sheep Farming Could Destroy Natural Peat Lands

Precious upland landscape in Britain will be changed forever if hill farmers are driven out of business because of changes to the way their funding is allocated, national park chiefs have warned.

The effect of sheep and cattle grazing on the ability of Britain's moorlands to act as "carbon sinks" is one of the most crucial functions of upland farming.

Peatlands are the single largest carbon reserve in the UK, storing around 3bn tonnes of carbon, more than in the woodlands of Britain and France combined. In areas like the Peak District, over-grazing has been partly blamed for the erosion of peatland and worrying releases of carbon.

But some farmers, environmentalists and the national parks argue that some grazing is necessary to maintain the moors as sinks. They say that if the moor is not managed sensitively, their make-up will change and their effectiveness will be damaged.

The government is in the process of introducing a new scheme that will reward hill farmers for the environmental and landscape benefits they deliver. When he launched the scheme earlier this summer the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, emphasised that "climate change mitigation" was one of the duties farmers, who receive the Uplands ELS grant, will be expected to take on.

Will Cockbain, a Lakeland sheep farmer said: "What we really want is to be paid a fair price at market for what we produce. If that could happen, everything else would fall into place, but there's no sign of it happening any day soon."

What could be lost without farming on Dartmoor?

• More than 23,785 hectares of Dartmoor are notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – a designation that denotes national importance.

• The moor is home to hugely important birds like the golden plover and skylark; butterflies, including the marsh fritillary, and plant life such as the crowberry and 12 types of sphagnum moss.

• More than 2,000mm of rain falls on the higher parts of the moor every year. This rain fills seven reservoirs and numerous rivers which in turn supply drinking water to most of Devon.

• The public enjoy open access to all 47,000 hectares of moorland. There are 450 miles of public footpaths and bridleways.

• More than 1,000 scheduled monuments are to be found on Dartmoor. It contains the largest concentration of bronze age remains in the country.