Pulling power for Dartmoor ponies
 The ponies have special harnesses to pull the trees off the moorland |
Twenty-six Dartmoor ponies are being put back to work to help the moorland and increase their own value.
The ponies, owned by local farmers, are being run by Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust at Bellever under a stewardship agreement with the Forestry Commission.
They are grazing the site and trampling the rank grasses to create room and light for sensitive plants.
The ponies have also been given special harnesses to remove spruce trees which have seeded on the open moorland.
Archaeological clearance
"They're just as good as any quad bike - in fact they're better," trust spokeswoman Drew Butterfield said.
"There's no diesel involved, so it's a cleaner, greener way of conserving Dartmoor."
Natural England has awarded a funding grant to the trust to pay for harnessing equipment required to carry the project out over the next 10 years.
The trees will be taken to other areas of the moor, where they will be allowed to rot down naturally and return nutrients to the earth.
Ponies have been put to work on Dartmoor for centuries, but there are now about 1,200 ponies born every year and farmers are not allowed to keep them all.
Some can make as little as £12 when they are sold at market.
"We're looking at lots of different ways to add value because in recent years we've seen prices fall with changes in legislation and horse passports, etc," Ms Butterfield said.
Following meetings with Dartmoor National Park, the herd will also be used to clear thick tussocky grass from important archaeological sites.
