News
The latest news related to our work and Commons.
How to Better Manage Commons: Insights from Our Upland Commons Project
Our transformative four-year, £3 million initiative, Our Common Cause: Our Upland Commons, is in its last year of delivery, leaving a lasting legacy for England's upland commons. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project underscores the critical role commons play in biodiversity, heritage, climate resilience, and community livelihoods.
Hill Sheep Husbandry in England
Hill Sheep Husbandry in England: Adaptive to change in diverse ecosystems. A guide for all who hold an interest in land management on England’s hills.
Royal Patron attends Lake District Summit
The Foundation for Common Land (FCL) is delighted that their Patron HRH The Prince of Wales has attended a Summit to encourage cooperation between the cultural farmed landscape and nature conservation in the Lake District, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS).
New exhibition celebrates common land
As part of the Our Common Cause: Our Upland Commons project development, a new exhibition of hand-printed portraits reflects on the traditional heritage of commons and reflects on what the future holds for this historic practice.
SHORT DEADLINE CONSULTATION: Proposal to Ban Burning on Deep Peat
Defra is consulting on introducing legislation to ban the burning on deep peat (>40 cm in depth. The legislation is only intended to cover sites designated under European legislation, Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas.
Commons Councils
Commons councils are democratic structures through which commoners, land owners and others with an interest in a common can work together to better manage agricultural activities, vegetation and the exercise of common rights.
Our Common Cause partnership update
It is now a year since the development work for this project started in earnest and the work is going well.
Commoners to receive BPS backpayments
After a 3 year wait back BPS payments are on their way to Commoners
Dismay at Deregistration of Common Land by MoD
The Foundation for Common Land is dismayed that Cumbria County Council has approved the deregistration of ~ 3230 ha of common land owned by the Ministry of Defence at Warcop.
FCL Briefing on the Agriculture Bill
Before the second reading of the Agriculture Bill on 10th October 2018 we sent a briefing to all MPs.
Brexit and opportunities for commoning
Julia Aglionby recently gave a presentation on "Commoning: Change & Resilience" to 45 Commoners from Shropshire, Herefordshire, Wales and Worcestershire.
Foundation attends Public Inquiry to hear MOD's attempt to deregister Hilton, Murton, Burton and Warcop Fells
We attended the first day of the Public Inquiry into the application by the Ministry of Defence to deregister 10,000 acres of common land in the Pennines, Cumbria.
Beating the bounds of Gidleigh Common - Dartmoor
Every 7 years the boundary of Gidleigh Common is walked and the marked boundary stones are re-found and cleaned. Adrian Coulston attended and recorded the day in his Dartmoor Blog. It's well worth a read and the photos are marvellous.
Proposal to test and trial future Environmental Land Management Schemes on commons
Last Friday we submitted a proposal to Defra to test and trial future Environmental Land Management Schemes on commons.
FCL's response to Health & Harmony Consultation
FCL's response to the Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit consultation.
FCL gives EFRA commitee evidence on RPA's impact on common land and commoning
Read more for the evidence we submiited to the EFRA Inquiry into the work of the Rural Payments Agency.
HRH The Prince of Wales becomes Patron of Foundation for Common Land
The Foundation for Common Land is delighted and honoured to announce that HRH The Prince of Wales has become our Patron.
Foundation for Common Land position statement on Natural Flood Management
Considerable interest has been shown in the potential of Natural Flood Management (NFM) to contribute to a reduction in flooding across the UK in recent months.