This year we're starting to donate 10% of our profits to UK based causes. You can read more about our mission but we're really excited to announce that this quarters cause is the Dartmoor Preservation Association.
As you may have heard, last year a private individual who bought 4,000 acres of the national park in 2013, took Dartmoor National Park Authority to the high court arguing that the right to wild camp without landowner's permission had never existed. In January this year a judge ruled in his favour, ending a long held assumption that wild camping was allowed.
More recently lawyers for the park argue the judgment could be flawed and that they should be given the right to appeal - and they won that right! Now Dartmoor Preservation Association is fundraising to support that appeal and for the next couple of months we'll be donating 10% of all our profits to support their mission.
Find out more about the fundraiser.
Why we're backing it
There has a been decades-long tradition of responsible camping on the moor and we believe the ability of a private owner to restrict the public access to the great outdoors sets a dangerous precedent. It demonstrates how fragile the right to access the countryside is. In England the public only has rights to access approximately 8% of this country's land and just 3% of our rivers, and half of this country's land is owned by less than 1% of our population. Further restrictions would deny the vast majority of the population access and place huge strain on a small number of designated 'public' areas.
We believe in a broader right to roam and an expansion of our existing statutory rights, because we believe that the benefits of access to the outdoors should be available to all.
Find out more
If you'd like to find out more about the cause and the history of wild camping on Dartmoor, check out some of the links below:
https://www.dartmoorpreservation.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/thestarsareours.uk/
https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/