Back to heather moorlands

What is being done to save our moorlands?

Protection Through Designation and Agreement

Moorlands can be protected by law or through financial incentive schemes (Conservation Agreements). For example:

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
Special Protected Areas (SPAs)
Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)

Under these Conservation Agreements, farmers work to maintain their moorlands by sympathetic management techniques. In particular, sheep stocking levels are tightly controlled. Financial incentives may be given to help offset the farmers losses for not improving the land, such as draining wet flushes.

Protection Through Ownership

Some sites are actually owned or managed by conservation organisations eg. The Peak District National Park Authority, The National Trust (NT), local Wildlife Trusts (WTs).

Protection Through Partnership

The Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) has been compiled by a partnership of conservation organisations, government agencies and landowner/manager representatives, led by the Peak District National Park Authority.

It aims to highlight threatened habitats and species and to prescribe measures that will ensure their survival.

The section on moorlands states:

• The BAP hopes to achieve its vision for moorlands by numerous actions including attempting to restore large areas of degraded blanket bog by introducing management regimes that will improve their condition.

View the PDFs to find out more about the Biodiversity Action Plan for heather moorlands (300k) or blanket bog (314k).

If we are to ensure the survival of this scarce and globally important habitat we need to raise awareness about the problems facing moorlands, not just to landowners and land managers, but to the general public.

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