Peak District moorland restoration gets £1m funding boost

The project aims to create 429 hectares of modified blanket bog

A moorland restoration scheme has been awarded more than £1m to improve the biodiversity of the Peak District's uplands.

The Peak District National Park Authority said the funding was part of an attempt to restore 35,000 hectares of UK moorland by March 2025.

Conservationists plan to install 429 hectares of modified blanket bog in the north of the national park.

The move aims to improve biodiversity, flood defences and water quality.

Funding has been allocated to the Moors for the Future Partnership through the government's National Peatland Grant Scheme, the Local Democracy Reporting Service says.

It aims to create the new bog to the north of the Peak District for the benefit of the nation's environmental recovery.

In a report to the Peak District National Park Authority, chief executive Phil Mulligan said: "It will make a huge contribution to the future resilience of this landscape, to climate change and create significant greenhouse gas benefits.

"The loss of 84,273 tonnes of carbon over the next 50 years will be avoided and will yield a greenhouse gas benefit of £12,841,550."

The impacts of the scheme will be monitored and the authority plans to continue engaging with the public to educate them about the moorland restoration and encourage positive visitor behaviour.