4 minute read
Absorbing stuff – the remarkable role of our uplands in storing carbon
Combatting climate change in STALYBRIDGE
The Peak District’s capacity to store carbon in its peatlands is crucial in combatting climate change. Charlie Kenyon speaks to land agent Nina Ward about how the Stalybridge Estate is working with the Moor Carbon project to restore moorland on the hills bordering Manchester and the National Park.
The restoration work we’ve been carrying out at Stalybridge is part of the Estate’s longstanding commitment to reverse the impact of the industrial revolution and damage caused by air pollution,” says Nina.
The peat was severely damaged after decades of pollution in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from the mills and factories in the towns and cities nearby. The pollution killed off the vegetation and made the peatlands extremely susceptible to wildfires and erosion.
These catastrophic consequences are being reversed through the Moors for the Future Partnership’s Moor Carbon project. Extensive work has taken place at Stalybridge over recent years.
Nina says: “It is difficult terrain to work on but with the Moor Carbon project and the benefit of Moors for the Future Partnership’s expertise it means that we can be more successful in re-establishing heather on bare peat.
“It’s vital we appreciate how important peatland habitats are for people and wildlife, both now and in the future. As an Estate with a large agricultural interest, alongside the moorland, we will continue our conservation work and enhance it wherever possible.”
In England, healthy peatlands hold 300 million tonnes of carbon – they are a valuable resource in fighting the effects of climate change.
Peatland restoration is a huge task across a vast landscape. Jamie Freestone, conservation works officer for the Moors for the Future Partnership, is working on the ground with the Stalybridge Estate to deliver the Moor Carbon project. Jamie says: “What we are doing gives me a real sense of putting in place some defences against climate change for future generations.”
Nina agrees: “The Estate values the environmental, recreational and socioeconomic worth of the moorland. We are committed to its future and encouraged that its value is being widely acknowledged. Huge efforts are being made to preserve and enhance this habitat, alongside measures to address climate change, to include flood defence and carbon capture; spreading the message on respecting this truly precious landscape.”
Carbon storing
Over thousands of years, sphagnum moss growing in wetland habitats throughout the world has drawn carbon from the atmosphere and stored it in the form of peat.
This peat is a particularly rich source of carbon due to sphagnum moss’s slow rate of decomposition in these acidic, wet and cool environments.
The IUCN estimates that the world’s peat bogs contain more than 550 gigatonnes of carbon (1 gigatonne is 1,000,000,000 tonnes), making them the largest terrestrial stores of carbon.
UK peatlands hold the largest land store of carbon, more than the total carbon in all woodlands in the UK and France combined.
However, in damaged and eroding peatlands like in the Peak District, the rate of carbon loss can increase to such an extent that they release carbon into our already overheating atmosphere. A 2007 study found that Peak District peatlands’ ability to store carbon is low because of the extent of the damage.
Pink sphagnum moss.
Heather brash spreading.
Improving habitat
On Stalybridge, over 7,500 bags of cut heather have been spread onto the moor, over 400 stone dams installed, and lime seed and fertiliser applied over 107 hectares.
Dams block drainage channels and erosion gullies to slow the flow of water, reducing the risk of flooding, as well as helping to rewet the moors. This improves the health of the moorland, providing better habitat for bog plants.
Lime, reduces the acidity of the polluted moors and is mixed with seed and fertiliser to encourage plant growth.
Moorlands are home to many fascinating species including:
Emerald damselfly (Lestes sponsa)
Common lizard (Zootoca vivipara)
Round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia).
Did you know?
Moor Carbon is a government-funded project which aims to help reduce UK carbon emissions through the restoration of blanket bog. Its target is to lock in 4,500 tonnes of carbon per year into the blanket bog moors as a result of its work. That’s the equivalent of taking more than 880 cars off the road for a year!
Moors for the Future Partnership is led by the Peak District National Park Authority. The Moor Carbon project is one of two major Defra funded peatland conservation projects in the North of England, operating from the Peak District to the Scottish border, an area which spans almost 4,200 hectares (more than 6,700 football pitches). You can find out more at
