Conservation projects range from managing National Nature Reserves such as Slapton Ley, which has a range of habitats  such as :
  1. Fresh water 
  2. Ancient woodlands
  3. Marsh and reed beds
  4. Coastal strip and shingle bed
The reserve is also surrounded by modern agriculture and has numerous small streams running into the ley, which carry agricultural run-off as diffuse pollution.

Managing the ley requires a partnership approach between the reserve managers and local land users. The habitats around the ley are also subjected to heavy public access, these include the foot path along the edge of the ley and the shingle beach and adjacent maritime grass strips. Finally during the winter the ley is under threat from erosion and salt water inundation because of heavy winter storms.    
Managing Slapton ley is a complex task requiring a range of skills from basic land management through to outreach and public engagement. A key contributor to management problems at the ley is the surrounding agriculture and the impact of these agricultural systems is significant causing algal blooms in the ley during the summer. This has proven difficult issue to resolve and requires the continuation of our multi functional approach to agriculture in the UK. In this case the aim would be to reduce soil erosion, target nutrient inputs to crop life-cycle, improve soil structure and fertility, encourage 5m permanent vegetation strips on the lower edge of fields adjacent to the ley. 
Clockwise from top left: View of reed beds, the upper ley, view of lower ley, great crested grebes, shingle maritime flora, horned poppy, vipers bugloss, a fresh water pool and strap wort. 
Examples of soil erosion, in this case this is caused by excessive winter rains on recently sown cereal fields. Reducing erosion is complicated and will be discussed in the future. 
Conservation within the farmed environment also includes a landscape scale effort such as seen in the UK uplands. This is typically carried out through grazing animals under land stewardship schemes.
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However, there is now pressure on upland farms to consider rewilding and this may result in significant change to our upland landscape over time, such as an increase in woodlands at the expense of open moorland.
  • This is not necessarily a negative development as much of our uplands are suffering from neglect and the open moor is being encroached by bracken, gorse or swamped by purple moor grass.   

There is resistance from farmers to rewild as they fear the loss of their business, but modern economics has made the small family farm (typical of upland farms) economically unviable.

​Modern arguments for net biodiversity gains may shift farmers opinions and attitudes towards rewilding if there is a financial incentive for the farmer.
The beginning of the rewilding movement, Trees for Life,
​Dundreggan, Scotland, (2011).
Working left to right, from top left: Dartmoor ponies grazing mixed upland grasslands, a small herd of mixed Dartmoor ponies grazing bracken encroached agrostis-ulex galli grasslands, the bracken on the slope of Hay Tor has been crushed by a specially adapted roller and is then grazed, a lone Dartmoor pony selectively grazing in heavy bracken, a Highland Kyloe grazing rough semi-improved pasture and finally a herd of south Devon's grazing a mixed wet meadow. 

The role of these grazers is multi-functional, they create a mosaic of grassland, heath and scrub.

Burning is also a management option in the uplands and across many heaths in the UK. This is typically carried out in late winter (February) and as the picture below illustrates can be variable in its results.
An example of gorse burning, used to open up dense stands of gorse to allow seedling recruitment and moorland regeneration. 
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