In a village hall nestled in the heart of the Peak District, a group of residents, volunteers and enthusiasts will gather this evening to celebrate the end of a landmark project to protect their moorlands.

It has taken seven years but has seen 54 hectares of bare, unprotected peat revegetated; 2.9 million plugs of highly absorbent sphagnum moss planted by hand; 3,500 hectares of invasive plant species removed; more than 16,000 mini-dams, or gully blocks, built to reduce peat erosion and slow water run-off; a 30 per cent reduction in peak water discharge from restored moorland sites, reducing flood risk; a significant increase in moorland biodiversity, including the first bats to be recorded on Kinder Scout and 12,000 people made aware of the dangers of moorland wildfire.

MoorLIFE has been one of the UK’s largest ever EU LIFE programme-funded conservation projects with €16m (around £13.7m) invested over seven years to protect and restore degraded blanket bog in the Peak District and South Pennines.

It was brought about by the South Pennines-based Moors for the Future Partnership after the area’s peat moorlands experienced long-term decline, due to industrial pollution and other human-related factors.

Volunteers have spent seven years creating a healthy blanket bog across parts of The Peak District.

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Head of Moors for the Future Partnership, Chris Dean, said: “We are very proud of the achievements made by the MoorLIFE 2020 project.

“The moorlands of the Peak District and South Pennines are some of the most degraded in Europe, but this project has taken a much-needed next step towards protecting these vital bogs, which are globally rarer than rainforests.

“As the record high temperatures in the recent heatwave has shown, protecting these areas of blanket bog is more important than ever in the face of climate change and accelerated rates of decline of nature.

Monitoring vegetation has been one of many projects within the South Pennines-based Moors for the Future Partnership MoorLIFE scheme.

“We’ve also shown that working in partnership yields world-changing results. Under the leadership of the Peak District National Park Authority, our close partnership with the Environment Agency, National Trust, South Pennines Park, RSPB, Severn Trent, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water has been the key to the success of MoorLIFE 2020.

“As this project draws to a close, the Partnership is carrying on the work through new projects that continue its world-leading, evidence-based peatland conservation.”

Moors for the Future will mark the end of MoorLIFE 2020 with the launch of Working Together, a short film showcasing its work and the impact it has had so

far, at Edale Village Hall this evening.

Moors for the Future Partnership was established in 2003 to protect damaged blanket bog habitats across the Peak District and South Pennines. It provides evidence-based conservation, backed up by innovative public engagement.

The Partnership has raised more than £45m of public and private funding to deliver restoration over 34 sq km of bare and eroding peat and created three sq km of native clough woodlands.

Peak District village will host celebration to mark end of a £13m seven year project to help restore peat bogs