A new, community-led exhibition about the regeneration of the moors will be coming to the Museum of Dartmoor Life this spring.

Titled ‘A Shroud for Mother Nature – Is Dartmoor Dying?’ the exhibition will showcase a shroud that was created by local felt artist Yuli Somme and six groups of beginner needlefelters depicting a Dartmoor scene, incorporating many of the endangered flora and fauna and its differing habitats.

Alongside the shroud, letters about the threats to the moor, its people, traditions and biodiversity will be displayed on boards around the room.

The Dartmoor community partners who wrote the letters were asked to answer the same three questions: Is Dartmoor dying?, what are you doing to save it? and how can the public help?

Kirsty Turner, museum manager and curator, said: “We hope visitors will be inspired to find out more about looking after this beautiful and important landscape, and will support Dartmoor’s people, enjoy its traditions and play their part in protecting it. This provocative title has made people stop and think but it is not an exhibition full of doom and gloom, quite the opposite in fact, and I am sure everyone who sees it will be motivated to help and full of hope for Dartmoor’s future.”

With funding from The Royal Society’s Places of Science, the exhibition will showcase the vital work that is carried out on Dartmoor by individuals, associations, landowners, commoners, charities, trusts and national bodies despite ongoing and future threats to the landscape and its biodiversity.

Some reports suggest that nearly 80 per cent of Dartmoor’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest have “unfavourable status”.

After viewing the exhibition, attendees will be asked to leave their thoughts about the three questions, pledge volunteer hours and to fill out a form which asks if you do or do not think Dartmoor is dying.