The valleys contain substantial areas of pasture land use, typically for dairy farming, patchworked with wet woodland and meadow habitats.

[8][7] Tourism puts pressure on the landscape through erosion, litter, traffic and car parking, the need to provide visitor facilities, and competition for local services.

[11] This designation does not affect land ownership, and most of the Dorset National Landscape area is privately owned by farms, estates and households.

[12] Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) also own several natural reserves within the area.

[1] AONBs were created to "conserve and enhance natural beauty" and a National Landscape Partnership of local organisations exists to support this by encouraging sustainable development and land management in the area.

It is led by Dorset Council and includes representation from parish councils, conservation organisations (National Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Campaign to Protect Rural England), local landowners and businesses (through the Country Land and Business Association, National Farmers' Union and local enterprise partnership), and government agencies (Environment Agency and Natural England).

In 2011, the A354 Weymouth Relief Road was constructed, including a controversial cutting through the South Dorset Ridgeway in the AONB, which environmental groups argued would have a significant adverse impact on the area.

[14] In 2022, National Grid removed 22 of its pylons judged to have significant adverse visual impact on the AONB after completing a project to bury 6 miles (9 km) of its 400kV circuit over the South Dorset Ridgeway.