Project History
The Moors for the Future Partnership was formed in February 2003, supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Just two months after the project’s conception a huge fire swept across Bleaklow moor sending plumes of thick smoke across Greater Manchester resulting in the closure of Manchester airport. The fire burnt 7 hectares of moorland (equivalent of 14 football or hockey pitches) killing everything in its path from vegetation to livestock.
This fire epitomised the task ahead and Bleaklow became the focus of the initial restoration works.
Since then, the Moors for the Future Partnership has undertaken restoration work on a range of moorland sites in the Peak District and South Pennines including Kinder Scout and Black Hill.
Between 2003 and 2009 over 5 square kilometres were subject to moorland management.
In addition, our footpath management projects, research projects and awareness raising programmes have spread throughout the moorlands of the Peak District National Park.
This is some of the work we have done so far:
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Laid over 100 miles (1.2 metre wide) of biodegradable ‘geo-jute’ netting to help stabilise the peat and prevent erosion. This equates to travelling from Sheffield to Manchester - and back!
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Spread 8 billion grass and heather seeds on the equivalent of 1200 football pitches (600 hectares) to prevent the erosion of peat.
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Airlifted 1500 tonnes of heather brash (cut heather) onto the moors to help stabilise the peat and provide a seed source.
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Planted 135,000 dwarf shrub plug plants on the moors, with the assistance of volunteers. Over 15,000 of which have been grown by volunteers. In 2009 alone we planted 6,270 trees.
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By spring 2008 we had restored over 12 miles of footpaths at 15 different locations across the Peak District. This includes over 1 mile of access improvements for the elderly, families with small children and disabled people.
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In 2009/10 we restored 31,583 metres of fencing, paths and walls (including 80 gates and stiles).
Click here to learn more about our restoration work
- In 2004 we repeated a 1990 bird survey across 500km2 of the Peak District. Bird populations are an excellent indicator of habitat condition. [Link]
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Been instrumental in commissioning a wide spectrum of research. click here to learn more about our science & research work}
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Undertaken two major landmark capital building projects (costing over £1.5 million in total) the Moorland Centre in Edale and the Moorland Discovery Centre at the National Trust’s Longshaw Estate, both built with sustainability in mind to promote moorland conservation.
Click here to listen to the 20 minute podcast about the Moorland Visitor Centre
Click here to find out more about the Moorland Discovery Centre
- Produced 13 award-winning audio tours of the moors, which interpret the rich history of the moors using new technology.
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Developed the 'Paws on the Moors' initiative – promoting good dog behaviour on the moors in an engaging and entertaining way. This was commended in the Association of Heritage Interpretation Awards 2007 and the ‘Paws on the Moors’ animation won Gold in the education category at the Worldfest Houston International Film and Video Festival.
