This campaign has now closed
With its proximity to both Manchester and Sheffield and being easlily accessible from the south, the Peak District is enjoyed by a large number of people who take part in a variety of activities including walking, climbing or simply enjoying the peace and tranquillity. The National Trust, by protecting and maintaining access to its land in the Peak District, has been providing ‘breathing spaces’ like these for over 100 years. However, there is a continuing need for more conservation work to be done.
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The moors of the Peak District are home to internationally important peat bogs, which can act as vital carbon stores for the UK. The peat bogs in Britain already store more carbon that all the forests in the UK and France. One of the best carbon stores in the UK, the peat bogs in the Peak District, is under severe pressure. These peat bogs are under threat as a result of wild fires, atmospheric pollution, intensive burning of the moors and overgrazing. As the peat starts to dry out and erodes the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere begins to accelerate with significant consequences for our climate. This has had a major impact on the National Trust’s High Peak Estate in north Derbyshire, where is manages more than 12,000 hectares of land, including the iconic Kinder Scout. The National Trust has been working in partnership with Moors for the Future to stabilise the quality of the peat bogs and try to halt the loss of this important natural resource. Without a sustained programme to prevent further damage and erosion to the peat the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere will accelerate. With enough investment these peat bogs will once again act as a store of carbon and help prevent climate change. Plans to combat this damage include: - Changing the level of grazing - Re-vegetating the peat - Re-wetting the peat - Working to retain the quality of the peat - Managing visitor impacts on the High Peak Estate Your investment of £100,000 will help us to re-vegetate the bare peat on Kinder Scout by collecting, propagating and spreading heather seed on to 1000 acres of internationally important moorland.