Project aims to protect rare arctic-alpine plants

A project aiming to help protect rare arctic-alpine plants is set to launch.

Teesdale Special Flora Research and Conservation Trust has been given a £65,000 grant for a three-year scheme.

It will see volunteers work with the trust to collect seeds and put them on the fells of Upper Teesdale.

The trust's founder, Dr Margaret Bradshaw, said the group wanted to raise awareness of the fragility of special flora in the area.

"This project is crucial to support the ongoing research and conservation of these rare species," she said.

The trust is also raising £15,000 to help support the project.

The North Pennines National Landscape awarded £65,000 to the trust from the government's Farming in Protected Landscapes programme.

The organisation said Upper Teesdale had an "unusually large number of rare plant species", including the Teesdale Assemblage.

This is a "unique community" of 20 rare and endangered arctic-alpine plants believed to have "survived continuously since shortly after the last glaciation", between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, a spokesman said.

The programme manager for natural heritage at the North Pennines National Landscape, Sarah Tooze, said: "We are looking forward to working with local farmers on ways to support these fragile species."

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