Intention 2.1: Secure funding for future land management to benefit all

To secure funding for future land management to benefit all, we will seek to create an ideal future farming and land management payment scheme in the Peak District National Park which helps to conserve and enhance the special qualities.

Update

As part of the Government’s Agricultural Transition Plan, funding has been made available through the Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme. This will fund projects that:

• Support nature recovery
• Mitigate the impacts of climate change
• Provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage
• Protect or improve the quality and character of the landscape or place

Here in the Peak District we have so far used the funds to support 72 projects; including 10 which diversify farm businesses, delivered 135m of restored drystone wall, 620m of riverbank protection and 106 Ha of improved habitat, plus six projects to make landscapes more inclusive to visitors. There has also been support for a wide range of specific projects to aid farming and land management operations that benefit the objectives of the scheme.

Future Actions:

To have a new support package available from 2023.

Note: The new Agriculture Bill and policy statement provides a planned timescale of 2025 to have new environmental land management arrangements in place

Intention 2.2: Ensure that the management of upland moors delivers environmental, social & economic benefits

To ensure that the management of upland moors delivers environmental, social & economic benefits; we will seek to restore populations of birds of prey to at least the levels present in the late 1990s, with the addition of hen harrier as a regularly successful breeding species.

Focusing on:

1. Fire risk
2. Visitor engagement
3. Resilient sustainable moorland
4. Moorland birds

Regular monitoring of progress against these areas of focus is carried out in partnership between Natural England, the Moorland Association and the National Park Authority.  There is also an annual up-date on progress and agreement on the focus for the future year’s activity with moorland owners, agents and keepers.

Update

Fire Operations Group

This group brings together six fire services, National Park Rangers, National Trust Wardens, water companies, major land owners and game keepers to draw up fire plans, oversee specialist fire-fighting equipment, raise awareness of moorland fires and the consequences and train for emergencies. It also:

• Carries out regular training exercises
• Monitors conditions on the ground in dry weather
• Setting up fire watches when necessary to give early notice of any moorland fires.
• Publicises the risk of moorland fires by posters at moorland access points to advise and inform the public.

The fire modelling and matrix work being developed with support from moorland owners is progressing well and should provide a Peak District wide view of fire risk and then possible intervention and restoration options.

Access and Engagement

The countryside code has now been refreshed and released. It has also been recorded in 21 different languages which will enable it to be available and useful to Peak District communities and those surrounding the national park. This will complement the work undertaken through the #PeakDistrctProud campaign. More details on which can be found under Intention 5.1

Sustainable Moorland Management Group

Natural England has funded a historical mapping project with Moors for the Future to collect and make available the full history of restoration works undertaken to date. The moorland restoration map is now completed, and shows what work has been accomplished, where and over what timescale.

The map can be viewed here: Map (opens new window)

Moorland Birds

The final Bird of Prey Initiative report for 2021 showed that it was an extremely good year for short-eared owls which is linked to it being an a good year for voles which they feed on.  This led to at least 30 breeding pairs, which is double the highest number previously recorded by the initiative.

The successful fledging of four hen harriers from a nest on National Trust land was perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the season.  This is the third successful nesting attempt by hen harriers in the last four years. Unfortunately, Peregrine falcons failed to repeat the nesting success of 2020 with eight nesting territories occupied of which only three were successful. One confirmed incident of theft and two further cases where circumstances suggest this had been the case indicate that persecution continue to be an issue for this species. The numbers of goshawk have continued to increase and have now regained their peak population of 17 pairs. While this is most welcome, the numbers of successful nests has remained fairly constant and now stands at 54%. Hopefully this will improve in future years to support a sustainable population.

The Initiative continues to be dependent for monitoring data on the local Raptor Groups, partner staff and volunteers, and on those gamekeepers who report sightings to the Raptor Groups. The Initiative would like to express its thanks for the hard work this involves.

Moors for the Future Partnership co-ordinated the 2004 and 2018 surveys of breeding birds. The surveyed area covered 500 square kilometres in the South Pennine Moors Special Protection Area (SPA), roughly equating to the size of 70,000 football pitches. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) analysed the survey results and drew comparisons to the previous two surveys to give an insight into breeding bird populations.

After the publication of the Peak District Moorland Breeding Bird Survey report in November 2019, the Partnership became aware that the original survey data had not been processed in the same way as the previous surveys of 1990 and 2004. These discrepancies have now been resolved to produce a scientifically robust set of results.

The revised analysis showed that between 2004–2018, 19 species had increased in number, including Lapwing, Golden Plover, Curlew, Snipe, and Ring Ouzel. These positive population trends of breeding waders (Lapwing, Golden Plover, Curlew and Snipe) across the Peak District Moors SPA contrast with the national declines in wader populations.

Curlew nest