Up to £10 million is being invested to help restore thousands of hectares of peatland across England.

The work is being carried out across 6,580 hectares of upland and lowland peatlands by four local partnership projects in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

It is estimated the work will help will abate and store 23,000 tonnes of carbon per year, helping the UK to achieve its climate change goals.

The £10m fund is being allocated be Defra towards the following project;

• The North of England Peat Partnership, led by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, will restore 394 ha of lowland raised bog and 1,679 ha of blanket bog across 21 peatland sites in the north of England

• The South West Peatlands Bid, led by South West Water, will be delivered through local partnerships. The focus is on 1,680 ha of upland peat across Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor. To date very little of the peatland on Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor has been restored. Exmoor has had over 1,900 ha of restoration to date.


• Meres & Mosses Carbon Capture Project, led by Shropshire Wildlife Trust, aims to restore a mix of nine lowland and upland peatland sites covering 98 ha across the Meres & Mosses Natural Area.

• Moor Carbon, led by the Peak District National Park Authority, will be working in the Peak District National Park, West Pennine Moors SSSI, and Rossendale Gap to restore over 2,000 hectares of blanket bog.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:: "Peatlands are an iconic aspect of the English landscape which are not only a haven for wildlife but also provide us with clean water and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the Government's commitment to improve peatlands and grant schemes such as this one will enable us to leave our environment better than we inherited it."

Dr Tim Thom, Peat Programme Manager at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said: "This funding will enable us to restore some of the most important and beautiful sites across the north of England – from England's largest lowland raised bog in South Yorkshire all the way up to Northumberland's highest point near the Scottish border – over 2,000 hectares of peatland will be repaired, locking up carbon, filtering our drinking water, managing flooding and providing habitat for some fascinating species."

Image: Black hill in the Peak District National Park.

(LM)