Restoring peat bogs in our region and beyond

Yorkshire and the Humber’s peatlands are crucial for nature, water management and carbon storage – Yorkshire Peat Partnership estimates that North Yorkshire’s peatlands alone store more than 27 million tonnes of carbon.

Over the years, agricultural practices that drain bogs and convert land to sheep grazing have had a devastating effect on these environments, and continued degradation means not only more habitat loss, but also in our peatlands continuing to be net emitters of CO₂ instead of absorbers.

In response, Yorkshire Peat Partnership is restoring peatlands in North Yorkshire, bringing together a wide range of organisations. The partnership is making progress, bringing peat bogs into restorative management, slowing water runoff, and revegetating with cottongrass and sphagnum moss.

This regional activity contributes to a broader ambition across northern England through the Great North Bog partnership, which includes projects in Lancashire, Cumbria, the North Pennines, Northumberland, the Peak District and the South Pennines. Together these groups have brought more than 2,000 square kilometres of peat bogs into restoration management in the past 20 years, but this is still less than one fifth of the total peat area in the north, so much more investment and accelerated action is needed.

Photography: Jenny Sharman