£5m project to deliver large-scale nature boost across National Trust land

A three-year project to boost wildlife and tackle climate impacts has kicked off on land cared for by the National Trust.

The Garfield Weston Foundation has provided £5 million in funding to deliver landscape-scale nature conservation.

Work at Arlington Court in north Devon, Wallington in Northumberland and areas of the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales aims to restore habitats such as blanket bog, wetlands, wood pasture and rivers.

The National Trust said the project, called Turning The Tide For Nature, will cover approximately 4,164 hectares by 2028 – an area similar in size to Portsmouth.

Conservationists hope some of the UK’s most threatened and endangered wildlife will benefit, including water voles, pine martens, red squirrels and native white-clawed crayfish.

Ben McCarthy, head of nature and restoration ecology at the National Trust, said: “The locations selected here have huge potential to dramatically increase the benefit they offer for boosting biodiversity and capturing carbon at a landscape scale.

“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.”

At Arlington, the funding will support conservation work across 75 hectares of woodland to encourage its natural expansion.

In the High Peak area of the Peak District, the money will support restoration work across 3,024 hectares of moorland habitat, including 1,000 hectares of degraded blanket bog, which can trap carbon, store rainwater and provide homes for golden plover, dragonflies and lizards.

The trust will also continue to work with the Yorkshire Peat Partnership and the Environment Department (Defra) in the Yorkshire Dales to restore 600 hectares of peatland at Upper Wharfedale and Malhamdale.

And at Wallington, wetlands, woods and grasslands will be created over 70 hectares of the Fallowlees Burn corridor, while a third ark site for the UK’s only native crayfish will be built.

Sophia Weston, Garfield Weston Foundation’s deputy chair, said: “We recognise that nature is in trouble in the UK and in need of urgent help.

“The steps the National Trust takes now to carry out vital conservation work across some of the country’s most cherished landscapes will ensure that nature can thrive in the future.”

The project comes as part of wider National Trust ambitions to create 250,000 hectares of nature-rich landscapes in the next decade, helping to tackle the severe decline in nature across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.