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

National parks, famous for their rich natural heritage, should be at the heart of efforts to protect habitats and wildlife. Instead, experts say they are declining - fastPhotographs by Abbie Trayler-SmithDartmoor 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. Continue reading...