National Trust land to receive £5m nature boost
Andy Reeves/PA WireA £5m project to boost wildlife and tackle climate impacts has started on land cared for by the National Trust.
The Garfield Weston Foundation has delivered £5m in funding to deliver the three year-long project called Turning The Tide For Nature.
The work at Arlington Court in north Devon, Wallington in Northumberland and areas of the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales aimed to restore habitats such as blanket bog, wetlands, wood pasture and rivers, project bosses said.
The National Trust said the landscape-scale nature conservation would cover about 10,300 acres (4,160 hectares) by 2028 - an area similar in size to Portsmouth.
'Huge potential'
Ben McCarthy, head of nature and restoration ecology at the trust, said the locations had "huge potential to dramatically increase the benefit they offer for boosting biodiversity and capturing carbon at a landscape scale".
He said: "By taking impactful actions on the ground, working with others and with support from funders like the Garfield Weston Foundation, we will create bigger, better and more joined up habitats rich in wildlife."
Conservationists said they hoped threatened and endangered wildlife would benefit, including water voles, pine martens, red squirrels and native white-clawed crayfish.
'Vital conservation work'
Funding for the project at Arlington would also support about 185 acres (75 hectares) of conservation work to encourage natural expansion, the trust said.
Funding in the High Peak area of the Peak District would support restoration work across 7,470 acres (3,024 hectares) of moorland habitat, including 2,470 acres (1,000 hectares) of degraded blanket bog, it added.
The trust would also continue to work with the Yorkshire Peat Partnership and the government environment department Defra in the Yorkshire Dales to restore 1,480 acres (600 hectares) of peatland at Upper Wharfedale and Malhamdale.
Wetlands, woods and grasslands would be created over 172 acres (70 hectares) at Wallington, they trust said.
Garfield Weston Foundation's deputy chair, Sophia Weston, said steps taken by the National Trust to carry out "vital conservation work" would ensure nature could thrive in the future.
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