A CONFERENCE hosted by the Exmoor Society and the national park authority will discuss whether livestock grazing should be removed to allow nature to take its course.

The debate centres on a large central area of Exmoor known as The Chains, and it follows criticism by environmental journalist George Monbiot who described it as an ecological desert.

Part of a national debate over re-wilding, the South West’s moorlands of Dartmoor, Exmoor and Bodmin Moor have been described by some as degraded habitats.

This issue will be among those discussed at the Exmoor Society Spring Conference ‘Exmoor’s Future Landscapes’ on Friday April 22 in Dulverton Town Hall.

Speakers will represent key national bodies – Natural England director James Diamond, NFU head of policy Dr Andrea Graham, RSPB director of operations Dr Shaun Thomas and Dr Cheryl Willis from Exeter University. Stanley Johnson will chair an open debate.

More details in the Free Press