Preserving our peatland

Powys

Abergwesyn Common

We’re restoring over 6,600 hectares of peatland in the Cambrian Mountains, which has been damaged by fires and peat cutting.  We’re doing this to protect wildlife, improve water storage and help tackle climate change.

We’re working with the Elenydd-Mallaen Peatland Partnership, local contractors and commoners, with support from the Welsh Peatland Sustainable Management Scheme, the National Peatland Action Programme and Starling Bank.

Techniques like aerial mapping, hagg re-profiling and sphagnum planting are helping to reduce erosion, improve water quality and lower the risk of downstream flooding. These efforts will also reduce carbon release, boost habitats for species like curlew and make the landscape more resilient to fire and drought.

Find out more about Abergwesyn Common

Lancashire

Holcombe Moor

We’re continuing work at Holcombe Moor to tackle climate change, improve wildlife habitats and reduce the risk of flooding. We’ve built 500 stone and peat dams to slow the flow of rainwater, and are planting half a million sphagnum moss plants to create boggier habitats and hold moisture in the soil. 

We’ve also created 3,500 peat bunds to help water pool behind them, making it easier for sphagnum moss to grow and the peatland to stay healthy. The work is funded by DEFRA’s Moor Carbon Fund.

We’re also working with Natural England, Moors for the Future, the Holcombe Moor Commoners’ Association and Environment Agency. More recently, we’ve teamed up with the University of Manchester to monitor progress over the long term.

Further restoration work is planned from winter 2023 to spring 2025, part-funded by the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme.

Find out more about Holcomble Moor

Lake District

Fix the Fells

The pathways at Rigg Head in the Lake District have been repaired after being damaged by heavy footfall, which caused peat in the area to leak carbon and dry out. Peat bogs have been restored using dams and a new path has been built to improve access.

The project has been delivered through Fix the Fells, thanks to our partnerships with the Lake District National Park, the Lake District Foundation, Natural England and Friends of the Lake District. It was funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Starling Bank.

Yorkshire

Malham Tarn Estate

The land surrounding Malham Tarn lake is one of the most species-diverse areas in the UK above 300m. It includes bog, fen, carr, woodland, limestone pavement and grassland. We're working to prevent the bog from draining, to help improve the condition of the land and the lake. 

Yorkshire

Marsden Moor

Marsden Moor is home to a variety of breeding birds and has a diverse blanket bog habitat, making it a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). We're restoring the area to bring back peat-forming conditions on the moorland after historic damage from industrial pollution, wildfires and overgrazing.

Find out more about Marsden Moor

Northern Ireland

The Mournes

We're working at the Mourne mountains in Northern Ireland to restore 16 hectares of degraded peatland. The area forms part of a wider 526 hectares of upland habitats in our care, stretching across Slieve Donard, Slieve Commedagh, Thomas and Millstone Mountain, Shan Slieve and Slievenamaddy within the Eastern Mournes SAC and SSSI. We're reprofiling the peat faces and adding dams to eroded gullies to help the land retain moisture. 

This project is supported by Starling Bank.

North of England

Look 'bogwards' to go forwards

We've surveyed and mapped over 900 hectares of peatland in Cumbria as part of a feasibility study. This work is helping us understand the land better and plan how to restore it, to tackle the effects of climate change in years to come.

This project has been supported by Starling Bank.

Derbyshire

The Peak District and Dark Peak Estate

The Peak District contains miles of peat bogs which are some of the most eroded in the UK. We're restoring the damaged areas of peat by installing dams and sphagnum moss to rewet the moors. This work will create healthy conditions for plants to grow, helping peat to form again over time, while also providing better habitats for wildlife. 

It will also help to filter and slow the flow of water off the moors and lock in carbon.

Our work has been supported by the Moors for the Future Partnership, United Utilities, Severn Trent Water and Natural England.

Find out more about the Peak District

Derbyshire

Kinder Scout

Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District and famous for its association with the Right to Roam movement through the mass trespass there in 1932.

The High Peaks team are delivering £2.5m of work at Kinder Scout by March ’25 to restore over 500 hectares (1235 acres) of the blanket bog there which is part of the largest area of peat under our care. Funding is going towards building 4,000 dams to reduce the flow of water off the moor and trap peat sediment, revegetating 8 hectares (20 acres) of existing bare peat, restoring and creating 2km of footpaths and planting over 800,000 plugs of Sphagnum Moss.

The project is part-funded by the DEFRA's Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme and United Utilities. Outdoors brand, Craghoppers, are contibuting £45,000 to restoring peat on Kinder Scout through a collaboration with National Trust on a new clothing range.

Find out more about our work on Kinder Scout

South West of England

South West Peatland Project

The South West of England contains more than 3,000 hectares of shallow peat and upland blanket bog, most notably in Exmoor, Dartmoor and West Cornwall.

We're working as part of a regional partnership to restore up to 250 hectares of degraded peat in this area.

We’re also understanding the condition of the remaining peat, much of which is degraded and releasing carbon.

We're learning which areas can be restored in the future, and how we can change management of the land and use vegetation to protect the peat from further damage. 

This project is supported by Starling Bank

Gwynedd

Upper Conwy Catchment Project

The Upper Conwy Catchment Project is helping to reduce the effects of climate change and nature loss in the Conwy catchment area. We're restoring the peatland at Y Migneint moor by installing new dams in drainage ditches to slow the flow of water and keep the moor wet, improving its ability to store carbon and reduce flooding downstream.

By restoring blanket bog and creating pools, we’re also creating better habitats for upland species like the Curlew,  improving water quality and making the landscape more resilient to drought and fire.

Find out about Upper Conwy

North Yorkshire

Upper Wharfedale

The peat-covered plateaux at Upper Wharfedale has been damaged by over-grazing and drainage. We're protecting the area by blocking nine miles of ditches to help the peat retain water, and restoring approximately 250ha of blanket bog and other mire types. 

This project has been funded by Biffa Award. 

Northumberland

Wilder Wallington

We’re working with Groundwork NE and the Wansbeck Restoration for Climate Change partnership to create 74 hectares of mosaic wetland habitat at Wallington.

By blocking grips in areas that were heavily drained, we’re protecting the peat, storing carbon and slowing the flow of water across the estate.

This project is funded by Natural England in partnership with the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission and RBG Kew.

We’ve also surveyed 355 hectares of peatland. We have a clearer understanding of the conditions of the peat outside of Harwood Forest. We’re working with our agricultural tenant and the Northumberland Peat Partnership to create a restoration plan to deliver a Wilder Wallington for people and nature.

This project was supported by Starling Bank.

Cambridgeshire

Wicken Fen Vision Project

We're working on the Wider Wicken Fen Vision, a 100-year plan to create an accessible landscape for nature, that stores carbon. Although the wider area was drained in the 17th century for agricultural use, 170 hectares of undrained fenland lies at the centre of Wicken Fen. 

We're working with partners to restore the wider fenland by managing the water to help to store carbon in the peatland, as well as using free-ranging Highland cattle and Konik ponies to help shape the developing habitat.

We aim to restore 215 hectares of peatland, thanks to a Nature for Climate Peatland Restoration grant from Natural England, funding from Starling Bank and other donations. 

Find out about Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve