Saving Manchester's 'wilderness'

Before and after: restoration work on the summit of Black Hill in the Peak District

The moors above Manchester have long been the perfect antidote to city life: peaceful, untrodden but sadly, in decline. Now, after decades of erosion, work on restoring the landscape can now begin.

The bleak Pennine moorland is recognised for its unique 'wilderness' quality, the result of a long relationship with Man which goes back 5,000 years when the area was first cleared for grazing.

Helicopters will be used to re-seed remote areas

But, ever since the Industrial Revolution, the moors have been under pressure. Pollution in the air has acidified the soil which, along with regular wildfires, has left vast swathes of bare, eroding peat.

Now, thanks to £5.5 million of European money, 2,000 acres are to be re-seeded using helicopters to reach the remotest areas.

Chris Dean is from the Moorland for the Future Partnership which secured the backing for its five-year Moorlife project. He says it's fantastic news for a place loved by both naturalists and walkers:

"What we're doing is to bring it back into good, ecological condition," he said.

"For perhaps 200 years, there was a huge amount of atmospheric pollution coming out of the textile industry which has caused a lot of damage to the soil structure.

"We've also suffered from bad summer fires, accidental fires, sometimes acts of arson, and that damage is not going to restore itself," he added.

Helicopters

The Moorlife project, due to start in April 2010, will cover large expanses of moorland between Manchester and Sheffield, including Bleaklow, Shelf Moor, Sykes Moor, Alport Moor, Black Hill, Rishworth Common, Higher House Moor and Turley Holes.

SOUTH PENNINE MOORS vast area of moorland between Gtr Manchester and Sheffield has been grazed for centuries: if left to nature, would revert to woodland causes of erosion include pollution, wildfires and over-walking Peat bogs such as Kinder Scout store up to 10 times the UK's CO2 emissions Moorlife project will begin in April 2010

Its aims are to conserve wildlife, reduce flood-risks by absorbing rainfall and purify water supplies.

The work is also important in terms of tackling climate change: peat bogs in the Peak District such as Bleaklow and Kinder Scout naturally store massive quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2).

But, with 2,000 acres of remote moorland to cover, how will they do it?

The answer is: with helicopters. First, conservationists will fly in lime and fertiliser to reduce the acidity of the soil. Then, a grass crop will be sown from the air to hold the peat together.

One of the top priorities is to save the globally-rare blanket bog with absorbent plants such as sphagnum moss. Specialist plants such as heather, cottongrass, bilberry, crowberry and cloudberry will also be re-introduced.

But will all this change the uniquely bleak quality of the moors?

"It will still be a wild moorland landscape," insisted Chris Dean. "But it won't be a black eroding landscape as large parts of the Peak District are at the moment."

Geoff Nickolds, chair of the Moors for the Future Partnership, said the work would also have important benefits for communities on both sides of the Pennines.

Adding: "It will restore these wild, biologically-important landscapes to a state where they can be enjoyed rather than endured by walkers, with benefits for health and well-being."

The Moorlife project will begin in April 2010 and aims to restore more than 2,000 acres of Peak District and South Pennine moorland by 2015.