DAMAGED moorland has been transformed into a moss-covered landscape thanks to a new technique that aims to reverse the fortunes of the North Pennines’ eroding peat bogs.

In a bid to reinvigorate the landscape, the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership’s Peatland Programme has begun to restore 117 hectares of bare peat.

This is only the start of a programme which aims to restore 3,000 hectares of blanket bog.

The project began with a survey of all the peatlands in the North Pennines, which is home to 27 per cent of England’s blanket bog.

Sites were prioritised and the technique, which is unique to the AONB Partnership’s Peatland Programme team, began last year.

The team developed a five-step process that includes an amalgamation of methods used in Canada alongside other techniques already used in the UK, such as the spreading of Sphagnum moss.

Sites in Durham, Cumbria and Northumberland have all benefitted from the project but more work needs to be done.

Alistair Lockett, Peatland Conservation Assistant with the Peatland AONB Partnership, said: “This is just the start of a long process. Overall in the North Pennines we have 3,000 hectares of bare peat that is damaging our environment. Our plan is to reverse that process as soon as we can.”

Healthy peatlands play a large part in the quality of our habitat and provide many ecosystem services, but bare peat has a damaging impact on the environment.

Years of erosion, caused by wildfires, historic overgrazing, and human disturbances, has resulted in greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere.