Wildlife trust plans to restore peatlands

Cumbria Wildlife Trust hopes to restore 14 acres of peatlands

A wildlife trust is looking to restore some of its peatlands which were historically burned to help heat homes.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust conservation manager David Harpley said the group wanted to restore about 14 acres at Burns Becks Moss in Killington, near Kendal.

The land is degraded because its peat had been burned as fuel for hundreds of years, said Mr Harpley.

The trust hopes to get planning permission for the works so that restoration can start in the autumn.

Mr Harpley said peatlands are "massive carbon stores".

"There's more carbon in peat in Britain than there is in all the trees in Britain, France and Germany," he said.

Restoring the land at Burns Becks Moss will enable it to store more carbon.

The team also plans to remove an artificial drain on the site and restore a historically straightened river to its natural, "wriggly" course.

"It should then sort of become a self-sustaining system," Mr Harpley said.

But the trust warned it could still take years or decades before the land is completely restored.

Westmorland and Furness Council said it is considering the wildlife trust's planning application.