‘The place is bleached, a dead zone’: how the UK’s most beloved landscapes became biodiversity deserts

Hen Tor, Dartmoor. The area was once known for its carpets of purple heather at this time of year; now, the plant is scarce. Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/The Guardian

Dartmoor is a place where the wild things are. Rivers thread through open moorland past towering rocky outcrops. Radioactive-coloured lichens cling to 300m-year-old boulders. Bronze age burial mounds and standing stones are reminders that humans have been drawn here for thousands of years. It is considered one of the UK’s most beautiful and precious landscapes.

Much of this moorland is officially protected as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) because it is considered home to the country’s most valued wildlife. Its blanket bogs, heathlands and high altitude oak woodlands are treasure troves of nature.