Farmers on Exmoor fight a "daily battle" to keep Exmoor as it is, according to a leading life peer.

Stating that Exmoor is one of the last truly rural areas in Britain, Baroness Mallalieu told a packed meeting this weekend that relatively few changes has occurred within the national park over the past 40 years – thanks to the people that live there.

The Baroness, who has a farm in the area, told the annual general meeting of the Exmoor Society in Dulverton: "Farming fights a daily battle to keep Exmoor as it is. Traditional local breeds are still found and are coming back and recent prices at Cutcombe Market show that farming is in reasonably good shape.

"The mass exodus of the next generation from the land has not happened on Exmoor," said Baroness Mallalieu.

She also claimed that the area's unique landscapes are the one thing which both draws people to the area and then addicts them: "Some unlucky people don't 'get' Exmoor – but once it has you it is not possible to break free," she told the meeting.

The Labour peer said country sports were "the spirit of Exmoor", adding that the local stag-hunting community was determined to "survive and fight the injustice of the hunting ban".

Society members heard how village life and its associated activities were the "vital organs of the moor" – according to Baroness Mallalieu issues such as affordable housing, loss of local shops and finding work for the next generation who wanted to return to the area were all vitally important.

Society chairman Rachel Thomas echoed these thoughts in her annual report, saying the organisation was keen to back moves that would help hill farming, tourism, the building of affordable housing, provision of employment and the work of public bodies.