A LETTER calling on Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds to protect the native ponies of Exmoor and Dartmoor has gathered more than 6,500 signatures in five days, drawing support from across the country and raising wider questions about trust in Natural England and the Government’s handling of upland farming.

The letter was launched by Exmoor farmer and Conservative political campaigner James Wright after Natural England moved to change commoners’ grazing rules on Dartmoor.

Under new Dartmoor grazing contracts, up to 90 per cent of Dartmoor’s semi-wild ponies could be removed from the moor because they will otherwise have to be included in livestock allowances.

Campaigners fear if Natural England succeeds on Dartmoor, it could also do the same on Exmoor and other moorlands across Britain.

The letter asks the Government to make sure the same approach is not forced on Exmoor, where the native pony is one of Britain's rarest and oldest breeds, descended from fewer than 50 animals which survived the Second World War.

The campaign comes at a moment of uncertainty for uplands farmers, as the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) Basic Payment Scheme has finished, and its replacement, the Sustainable Farming Incentive, was closed to new applicants in March, 2025, before reopening this year in a weaker form.

Many upland farms remain tied to older stewardship agreements which have not kept pace with inflation.

With agri-environment payments now making up about a third of the average farm’s income, and more for many upland holdings, decisions taken by Natural England and Defra increasingly determine whether traditional moorland grazing survives at all.

Mr Wright will deliver the letter to Ms Reynolds in person on behalf of those who have signed, calling for the ponies of both moors to be recognised as part of the nation’s cultural and biological heritage.

He said: “This is about the ponies, our way of life, and it is about Natural England, whether anybody can still trust a word they say.

“When grazing agreements ended on Dartmoor, families who had farmed those commons for generations were threatened with enforcement.

“A Government review then told the agency to completely change its approach.

“So, forgive me if I do not take their reassurances about Exmoor at face value.

“Anybody who does, is being naive.

“The truth is, the Government has no plan for the uplands.

“The schemes hill farmers relied on have been closed and reopened in a weaker form.

“The ponies are simply the first casualty, and the rest of upland Britain is waiting.

“These animals survived a world war.

“They should not have to survive their own Government.

“Six and half thousand people have signed this letter in five days because they understand that once these ponies are gone, they are gone for good.”

The letter remains open for signatures.

West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour has dismissed worries about the future of Exmoor Ponies as ‘scaremongering’, ‘irresponsible’, ‘inaccurate’, and ‘downright false’.

Mrs Gilmour said Natural England had personally reassured her the situation on Dartmoor had nothing to do with Exmoor.