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Environment Agency Chair Lord Chris Smith was shown round the biggest upland conservation project in Britain last Friday.
Moors for the Future, a partnership funded by ten organisations including the Peak District National Park Authority and the Environment Agency, is ensuring that large parts of the Peak District Moors are conserved for future generations. Lord Chris Smith inspected the works being undertaken at Black Hill, made possible by funding from Natural England and the owners, Yorkshire Water and United Utilities.
The partnership aims to restore and conserve the internationally important moorlands of the Peak District. It has already re-seeded 600 hectares to prevent erosion of peat, laid over 100 miles of biodegradable netting to help stabilise the peat and restored over five miles of footpaths.
It also aims to encourage responsible use of the moors, and develop expertise on how to protect and manage the moors sustainably for the future.
The Environment Agency is particularly interested in the potential for moorland restoration to help manage flood risk in the lower catchment around Derby and to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Lord Chris Smith said: “Peatlands are very important, as they store millions of tons of carbon, helping to mitigate climate change and can hold back rain water to prevent flooding downstream. If these moors are damaged these important services to society are lost. This is why the Agency is committed to this Partnership Project, it is a win-win protecting biodiversity and helping us manage two of the most serious challenges we face on coping with flood risk and climate change.”
Narendra Bajaria, chair of the Peak District National Park Authority said: “Moors for the Future is a unique partnership that achieves benefits for climate change, water supplies, nature conservation, landscape, education and recreation. We also have clear evidence that moorland restoration can contribute to lowering flood-risks downstream, and we are immensely grateful to the Environment Agency for its commitment to Moors for the Future, not least because of this.”
Chris Dean, Moors for the Future programme manager, said: “There is an enormous human benefit in having a moorland environment in as good a condition as we can make it. Some 70 per cent of England’s population collects its drinking water from moorland environments, the way they are managed can reduce flooding downstream and peatlands are the UK’s biggest store of carbon. This is an exciting opportunity for the Environment Agency to work with the Moors for the Future Partnership to ensure the Peak District Moorlands continue to supply us all with these vital services.”
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