Fears Natural England may lose powers amid row with Dartmoor farmers

Tory MPs call for ministers, not watchdog, to make decisions on sites of special scientific interest

Senior Conservative MPs have suggested the nature watchdog Natural England should be stripped of powers in an overhaul of how it manages England’s best wildlife sites, after complaints from landowners.

Wildlife experts have said it is “outrageous” that sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), which are some of the most important areas for nature in the country, could be “determined by politics rather than science”.