Public asked for help to buy mountain to create highest nature reserve

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The charity hopes that birds like hen harriers will return to the area.
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Adders are another native species the Trust hopes to reintroduce.
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Once very common in English rivers, water voles have mostly disappeared from the Lake District, but there is hope that they may return.
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Black grouse also disappeared from the area quite recently, but the charity hopes that restoring the habitat it needs to survive could see them return.

5 September 2024

A wildlife trust is aiming to create England's highest nature reserve.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust says it hopes to restore 620 acres of lost Atlantic rainforest in the lower slopes of Skiddaw in the Lake District.

Other habitat which would be restored include montane scrub which is a high-altitude woodland, wildflower grasslands, heather moorlands and 992 acres of peatbog.

It's hoped the changed would help bring wildlife back to the area too.

The charity is asking for public donations to help to pay for the Skiddaw forest site, which includes the summit of Skiddaw mountain.

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What are the plans?

Skiddaw Forest, including the summit of Skiddaw with purple heather

Joe Murphy/PA Wire

The ambitious project aims to restore a lot of wildlife to Skiddaw forest

The work on Skiddaw forest would include:

Tree planting - 300,000 native trees will be planted out, all grown from seeds gathered from trees at high altitude to ensure they survive. Sessile oak, birch, rowan, holly, alder, willow and hazel are the main trees they would plant.

Restore Atlantic rainforest - The aim is to create around 667 acres of Atlantic rainforest or temperate rainforest. Rainforests of the British Isles are temperate rainforest, which mean they grow in areas that have high rainfall and humidity.

Expanding montane heath - Montane heath is a rare low woodland which grows at high altitudes. The charity wants to restore the diminished native montane heath and low-lying scrub on the higher slopes of Skiddaw.

Restoring peatbogs - A third of the site is peatland which is organic matter made of decaying plants. The peatbog on the site had been drained so it would be restored by rewetting it by blocking drains.

Bringing back wildlife - They are hoping to bring back native species such as water voles, black grouse, hen harriers and adder.

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Wildflower zones attract and help bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust says its aim is to make sure people can freely visit the site including Skiddaw's summit.

A partnership between The Wildlife Trusts and a the company Aviva raised £5 million towards the £6.25 million asking price.

Extra support was lent from charitable funders to make sure Cumbria Wildlife Trust did not lose the chance to buy the land, but the charity still needs to raise £1.25 million to pay for it.