Understanding Commoning in Pembrokeshire to Add Future Value

Project Description:

The European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP) aims to reverse the decline of the farming types that most benefit biodiversity across Europe, by making them socially, economically and environmentally sustainable at the farm and landscape scales. We work to raise awareness and understanding of the policies and other factors that are keys to their sustainable future, by research, networking and dialogue and by networking between low-intensity farming areas.

Commons Vision’s aim is to provide practical solutions to common land and ecological issues through their consultation, ecological, environmental and management services. They provide a service to a broad client base of commoners, local authorities, national charities, statutory organisations and government. Their ethos is based on an ecosystem approach, working with the natural environment to sustain those systems which support our cultural, environmental and socio- economic needs. They aim to ensure that their impact is measurable and appropriate to the needs of the people, landscapes, habitats and species concerned.

Project Outcomes:

The purpose of the first phase investigation was to establish what the current situation is with regard to commons within Pembrokeshire, collect baseline data, examine the barriers to the exercise of rights on commons and begin to develop solutions that will lead to a second phase of activity.

The project was implemented at possibly the most challenging time for agriculture on common land for the last 60 years or more, given not only the possible impact of Brexit, but the uncertainties surrounding the same.  As such, and given that it could not directly act to change either policies or impacts on the ground, the focus of the project was, and could only be, on raising awareness, trying to describe and quantify current issues and future threats and opportunities and on improving the networking by which these things can be better understood, addressed and incorporated into policy and local action.

Lessons Learned:

Pembrokeshire is unusual in having so many commons of this type which have been unmonitored for many years.  The last complete accurate survey being undertaken by Aberystwyth University in late 1980ies.  Re-visiting some of these sites was quite staggering, in many cases they have been lost to agriculture entirely whilst some have been put to other uses by communities.

"The approach adopted was correct in selecting a few commons of different sizes and management systems to provide an indication of activity and the resilience of the commoning system.  What became clear was that the situation on commons within Pembrokeshire is far more complex than counties of comparable size elsewhere in Wales, with a complexity of commons types and governance systems from sole grazier to court leet.  What was also surprising was the very limited number of commons which are being actively grazed when compared to the total number of potentially grazable commons within the county.”