Rewilding project aims to restore peatland

Work has started on a project to restore 435 hectares (1,077 acres) of damaged peatland.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust will carry out the work in Skiddaw Forest where it will also repair a 6km (3.7-mile) boundary fence.

The forest is home to one of the largest continuous areas of blanket bog in the Lake District and acts as a huge carbon store.

Peatland team manager for the trust Susie Webb said: "Once improved, the peatlands will also slow the flow of water off the fells, which will help protect local communities downstream from flooding and will benefit a huge variety of wildlife."

The project is expected to take between three and four months but public access to Skiddaw Forest won't be affected.

Webb said: "We expect to see an increase in specialist plants such as sundews and sphagnum mosses and greater numbers of dragonflies.

"Birds such as snipe, which live on wet grassland, marshes and moorlands, will benefit from the rewetted ground."

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