Following a record-breaking conservation works season last year, the upcoming season is set to be even bigger and see unprecedented levels of peatland restoration work in the North of England by organisations collectively.
The planned peatland restoration work spans from the most southerly point in the Peak District right up to Northumberland, and includes Special Areas of Conservation, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty including the Peak District, South Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorks Moors, Nidderdale, Forest of Bowland, North Pennines and Northumberland. Restoration work will be carried out across 76 sites, and includes spreading 42,772 bags of heather brash, installing 68,669 gully/ grip blocks and planting 2,597,777 sphagnum plugs.
In light of the scale of work to be completed and the resources available, the organisations delivering the work (Moors for the Future Partnership, Forest of Bowland, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, North Pennines AONB, Yorkshire Peat Partnership, Pennine Peat Life and Northumberland National Park) have released a map of the forecast Peatland Restoration Works for 2019–2021 to best inform contractors of the upcoming volume of work.