Moor conservation project sets out to conquer peat loss

Over the next five years the MoorLIFE project, which is run by the Moors for the Future organisation and began in April this year, aims to restore bare and eroding peat in the South Pennines Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.

The project covers 2,000 acres of the most-damaged Peak District and South Pennine moors between Manchester and Sheffield and involves stabilising the peat with vegetation to prevent it being lost.

Re-introducing sphagnum moss, one of the most important peat-forming plants, to the landscape will create an active "blanket bog" to absorb and store carbon, help reduce flooding and provide a unique habitat for a range of wildlife.

MoorLIFE is now using helicopters to spread seed from the air and also fly in equipment, fertiliser and young plants to remote areas of the moors.

Mr Christensen said: "Damage to peatlands affects us all. As well as providing unique habitats for rare and special wildlife, peatlands are a vital buffer against climate change.

"They have a major role to play in alleviating flood risk and they help supply us with millions of litres of water every day.

"One third of England's active blanket bog is found here in the Peak District, and it is extremely encouraging to see the work that is going on to restore this vital part of the nation's natural infrastructure."

Almost all the areas to be restored lie between Sheffield and Manchester and include Bleaklow, Shelf Moor, Sykes Moor, Alport Moor, Black Hill, Rishworth Common, Higher House Moor and Turley Holes.

The 5.5m earmarked for the project has come from the European Union's Life Plus fund, which is worth more than 250m and is also funding similar schemes across Europe.

Environmental workers set up the Moors for the Future Partnership in 2002, with the aim of saving natural landscapes which have been left blackened and scarred by erosion.

According to those behind the project, many areas which were once thriving are now bare peat, after vegetation was killed by a combination of pollution, fire and visitors on foot.

Scientific studies have shown that large areas of peat also filter rainwater before it arrives in reservoirs, improving the quality of drinking water.

Specialist upland plants, including heather, cottongrass, bilberry, crowberry and cloudberry will also be re-introduced in a bid to attract wildlife that has been lost to the moors for decades.