Conservation in the Peak District National Park
Nearly Natural Landscapes
Not So Natural Landscapes
Conservation of the Peak District Natural Landscape
Conservation of the Peak District Built Landscape

Points to Consider

Conservation in the Peak District National Park

Conservation is a word that is used a great deal but which sometimes has different meanings. The dictionary states that conservation and preservation mean the same but this is not strictly true. By conservation the Peak District National Park Authority means keeping and protecting a living and changing environment - a living landscape - whilst preservation can mean protecting in an unchanging way such as pressing a flower or keeping specimens in a museum.

National Parks were set up first in America (Yellowstone Park opened in 1872) and much later in Britain (the Peak District National Park became the first British National Park in 1951) with the specific purpose of protecting areas of natural beauty in the countryside.

The Environment Act of 1995 defined the purposes of National Parks as:

1. conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage
2. promoting opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of their special qualities

The National Park must also 'foster the economic and social well-being of the local communities'.

Facilities for suitable types of recreation and enjoyment (walking, climbing, fishing etc) are an important part of National Parks but the first aim of conservation always takes priority.

Conservation in the Peak District National Park involves more than preventing damage and leaving the countryside alone. Management is needed to maintain the variety and interest of the landscape. This means:-

• Looking after the best features of the landscape e.g well-managed moorland and listed buildings
• Improving neglected features e.g rebuilding stone walls and replanting old woodlands.
• Managing developments so that damage is limited e.g new buildings and recreation activities

Many organisations are involved in conserving the Peak District National Park:-

Peak District National Park Authority formulates the conservation policy for the National Park.
English Nature is responsible for advising Government on nature conservation in England. Its work includes the management of National Nature Reserves; notification of Sites of Special Scientific Interest and advice about nature conservation.
English Heritage is nationally responsible for archaeology and the built environment.

Other organisations include: the National Trust , the RSPB, Council for the Protection of Rural England, County Wildlife Trusts, Forest Enterprise and Water Companies.

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Nearly Natural Landscapes

The Peak District landscape is both natural and directly affected by human activity. Very few areas remain that are completely natural: forest clearance by the earliest settlers; centuries of farming; lead mining and other industries as well as the growth of villages, have moulded the landscape that we see today.

The rocks underneath the Peak District National Park affects the landscape and the plants and animals that live there. Gritstone lies under the Dark Peak, the highest part of the Park, with bleak, exposed moorland and cliff-like edges. The softer shale rock lies under the more fertile valleys. Limestone is the rock under the White Peak, a landscape of grassy plateaux, criss-crossed by stone walls, giving way to steep sided dales.

Moorland

The Dark Peak moorland is the nearest thing to wilderness in England.

The moors are dominated by cottongrass on the wet peat bogs and heather, bilberry and crowberry on the drier soils. Sphagnum moss was once dominant in the peat bogs and more peat formed from its undecayed remains. Sphagnum is now rare as a result of air pollution during the industrial revolution. The heather moorlands provide food and are home to a large numbers of red grouse. The commonest bird is the meadow pipit. The most south-easterly breeding ground for the golden plover, a bird which has been given protected status by the European Union, is also in this area.

There are substantial areas of the moorland where the peat is being eroded and the moorland lost. This erosion is the result of several factors:-

• Summer fires - which kill the plants and burn the top layers of peat soil. It can take many years for the vegetation to re-colonise.
  
• Harsh climate - Much of the moorland is around 500-600 metres above sea level and the temperatures are low (summer average of 11-12 °C). This results in very slow rates of re-growth of the moorland plants.
  
• Pollution - acid rain has affected the Park's moorlands for 200 years. Oxides of sulphur and nitrogen are emitted from factories and power stations and also from cars. These dissolve in rainwater or mist and are deposited as dilute acids. They especially affect mosses and lichens and have been responsible for the decrease in sphagnum moss.
  
• Grazing pressure - over-grazing by sheep can reduce heather and prevent vegetation getting re-established on bare ground.
  
• Trampling - many thousands of tourists hike over the moors, wearing away the sparse vegetation and exposing the bare peat which is then subject to erosion.

Woodland

Padley Gorge

Wooded valleys on shale and gritstone are an important part of the natural landscape.

Peak woodlands typically consist of sessile oak and birch, often with some mountain ash. These ancient woodlands are examples of the type of vegetation that would have covered the gritstone areas in the past, before the woodlands were cleared for farming and a wetter climate encouraged peat to develop. Birds found here include the redstart, pied flycatcher and wood warbler.

Grazing by sheep stops seedling trees growing and action for conservation usually involves fencing areas of woodland to keep sheep out.

Limestone Heaths and Dales

In the White Peak, limestone heaths display the mixture of acidic and lime-loving vegetation characteristic of the limestone plateau before the land was enclosed for more intensive farming.

The dales are steep valleys forming one of the most beautiful landscapes in the Park. The grasslands and ancient woodlands found in the dales are of outstanding ecological interest. These woodlands are of ash and wych elm with a shrub layer of hazel, dogwood and bird cherry. The grasslands have a wide variety of plant species including scabious, harebell, milkwort and several species of orchids. Many insects, butterflies and other small creatures make their homes in these dales while several species of bat live in the caves formed in the limestone.

This type of grassland has been created by centuries of sheep grazing.   More recently, however, a reduction in grazing has allowed hazel and hawthorn scrub and coarse grasses to grow up and shade out small flowering plants and to mask the attractive landscape. Conservation of these dales requires the grazing of sheep to be maintained and encouraged at appropriate levels to restore the rich grassland.

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Not So Natural Landscapes

The landscape mainly created by human activity is enclosed farmland (46% of the Peak District National Park). Within some farms there are a few remaining unimproved grasslands (no fertiliser added) that support a wide range of wild flowers such as meadow saxifrage and cowslip. The drystone walls are a striking landscape feature and the small fields and traditional stone buildings add much to the characteristic landscape of the Peak District.

Another major landscape changing human activity is mineral extraction. Remains of former leadworkings can still be seen today but are often colonised by rare lead-tolerant plants such as leadwort (spring sandwort) and yellow mountain pansy.  By far the most dramatic landscape impact today is made by large scale limestone and gritstone extraction.

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Conservation of the Peak District National Park Natural Landscape

There are a variety of approaches to help conserve the National Park:

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - English Nature can notify a piece of land of particular interest for nature conservation as a SSSI. Landowners must discuss and agree management of land within the SSSIs with English Nature. There are SSSIs covering around 35% of the National Park.

National Nature Reserves (NNRs)  - Managed by English Nature to conserve nationally important examples of habitats, flora, fauna or geology, Derbyshire Dales NNR is made up of parts of 5 scattered limestone dales, including Lathkill Dale which has outstanding ash woodlands, limestone grasslands, the River Lathkill plus Karst and cave systems.

Lathkill Dale Nature Reserve

Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) - In 1988 the North Peak ESA was created by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (now the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The South West Peak ESA was created in 1992. Through ESAs, DEFRA encourages farmers and landowners, especially in moorland areas, to manage the land in ways that conserve and enhance the landscape, the wildlife and historic features. This is achieved through 5 year management agreements.

Farm Conservation Scheme  - Encouragement to conserve the landscape is provided through this National Park Authority run grant scheme. Farmers are encouraged to retain unimproved fields and to maintain traditional field boundaries.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme - Set up in 1996 this scheme extends the system of grants for conservation projects. All landowners and land managers are offered payments to enhance and conserve the landscape, the wildlife and history and to help people to enjoy the area. Agreements usually run for 10 years. The aim is to make conservation a part of farming and land management practice.

Woodland Grant Scheme - Begun in 1997, this aims to encourage the creation and management of woodland by providing money to help towards the cost of work.

Legislation has a key part to play in conservation. Many birds and animals are protected by the Wildlife & Countryside Act of 1981. Badgers and their setts have special protection as a result of several Badger Acts. Under the Hedgerow Regulations of 1997 it is against the law to remove most countryside hedgerows without permission.

Environmental Education , Interpretation and Information are important tools for conservation. Losehill Hall, the Peak District National Park's Study Centre at Castleton, provides courses for groups of all ages on a variety of conservation issues. The Ranger Service provides information and assistance to the public and is involved on a great many conservation projects within the Park. They are assisted by groups of Conservation Volunteers on projects such as path restoration and fencing of sensitive areas.

Ownership or management of the land by a conservation body ensures long term conservation of a particular site. Padley Gorge is owned by the National Trust. The Peak District National Park Authority owns land on the Eastern Moors, North Lees, the Roaches and the Warslow Moors. English Nature and the voluntary Wildlife Trusts manage a number of nature reserves.

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Conservation of the Peak District National Park Built Landscape

Villages and Hamlets

Most Peak District buildings are made of local building stone and reflect local building traditions.

Settlements and buildings have changed with changing economic and social conditions, but the traditional materials and scale of the buildings have always been maintained. The National Park Authority encourages this to continue through the provision of guidelines on the design and materials of any new building or extension.

Conservation Areas  - Designated in many villages which have buildings of special historic or architectural interest, this area is normally in the heart of the village but may extend to the landscape around. Trees are also protected and cannot be cut down without permission from the National Park Authority.

Enhancement Projects in a Conservation Area might include paving, burying overhead telephone and electric wires, tree planting and restoring traditional features such as wells, pinfolds, lamp-posts, as well as providing grants for the repair and renovation of non-listed buildings.

Enhancement Project in Eyam Square

Listed Buildings - There are nearly 2,900 buildings in the Park that are of special architectural or historic interest. Special care is applied to their conservation and grants are available from the National Park Authority or English Heritage for their repair or restoration. Owners are encouraged to discuss their proposals for repair or restoration with the National Park Authority's specialist architects.

Archaeological Conservation

Important areas of historic landscape can be found throughout the Peak District National Park. There are remains from the Neolithic age (e.g. Arbor Low and chambered tomb at Five Wells), Bronze Age (e.g. Stone circle and tomb on Stanton Moor), Iron Age (e.g. Hillfort at Mam Tor), Roman period (e.g. Navio fort at Brough) and many developments from the Medieval period onwards. Lead mining has had the most significant effect on the landscape with mines along rakes (veins of lead ore), soughs (drainage channels), and smelting sites.

Since 1978 the National Park Authority has been seeking to conserve sites which illustrate the history of the landscape particularly well including:-

Big Moors - an extensive upland Bronze Age landscape;
Chee Tor - a Romano-British settlement and field system;
The Chelmorton field system - a fossilised medieval strip field;
Roystone Grange - a valley where human activity can be traced back 10,000 years. Roman farm and field walls and a medieval monastic farm (which gave us the Grange name) are particularly interesting.

Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) - There are altogether about 430 SAMs in the Park. Thousands of other monuments are listed in the Sites and Monuments Records, which is constantly added to as new discoveries are made.

Henge Monument at Arbor Low

Most of all, conservation in the Peak District National Park involves a partnership between the farmers and landowners, the National Park Authority and associated conservation organisations.

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Points to Consider

Why do you think conservation is important?

How should we choose what is conserved and what is not?

For more information on any of the subjects highlighted in this factsheet try searching the archive.

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