Latest news with #MoorsForTheFuture
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Wildfire warning signs put up in Peak District as climate crisis increases threat
Wildfire warning signs normally seen in the parched Australian outback have been installed in the UK for the first time. In a stark illustration of the worsening impact of the climate emergency, signs have been put up in the Peak District and south Pennines, where there have been more than 30 moorland fires since March. It is part of efforts by rangers and volunteers to prevent discarded cigarettes, campfires and barbecues from sparking more fires during the prolonged warm and dry weather. Matt Scott-Campbell, of the Moors for the Future Partnership, said the aim was to inform the public about the growing risk of wildfires. 'These signs are normally used in countries that have lived with the risk of wildfire for generations. But now we are seeing the effects of climate change … this might be the beginning of us as a society really coming to terms with the fact that we need to modify our behaviours when we're accessing wild places.' He said the area between Sheffield and Manchester was facing a triple challenge of a warming climate, increasing visitor numbers and a budget reduction of about 50% in the past decade. 'We really want to encourage people to come and experience these amazing habitats, these ultra-high-value peatland ecosystems. But we need to be accessing them and enjoying them responsibly in ways that don't create fires,' Scott-Campbell said. For the past 20 years specialist teams have been working on the moors to try to manage and preserve the nature-rich peatland, blocking erosion gullies to increase water retention and cutting back heather to create a more diverse habitat. An initial inspection of the land after the recent spate of fires found that those areas that had been restored and protected had survived with less damage. Scott-Campbell said: 'Damaging fire events like those of recent weeks only increase the urgency with which we must act to restore and protect degraded blanket bog habitats in the face of a changing climate.' Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Phil Mulligan, the chief executive of the Peak District national park, said healthy and restored uplands were already playing a vital role in efforts to tackle the climate emergency and he urged all visitors to be vigilant about fire risks. 'I cannot stress enough the need for care, responsibility and vigilance when visiting the countryside of our national parks,' he said. 'None of us want to play witness to the very picture-postcard views we cherish being lost to fire.'
BBC News
16-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Mini dams may have prevented Peak District wildfire spread
Restoration work on a Peak District moor could have prevented more damage being caused by a wildfire, according to an environmental group.A fire broke out in the Goyt Valley in Derbyshire on April 30 and caused damage to an area roughly the size of 325 football the Moors for the Future Partnership had built a series of mini dams as part of a programme of work that started two years partnership's conservation work officer, Jim Randle, said because there was more water on the moor it may have helped stop the fire spreading further, but added it will still take years for the landscape to fully recover. He added: "It is grief almost because you know how important this place is to people. "It is a very popular spot for lots of people."The Moors for the Future partnership is led by the Peak District National Park Authority but is funded from a variety of sources including the National Trust and the Environment upland and exposed moors there is bare peat and Moors for the Future works to encourage grass, heather and other vegetation to grow in the allow this to happen it has created water dams on the moors by blocking gullies and water fire was largely contained within the Goyt Valley and didn't spread on to the open moorland between Buxton and Randle added: "There are many, many areas where we have put in dams that were holding water that would not have otherwise been there."It has been exceptionally dry in lots of areas where we were working. "The fire may well have been worse and buried deeply into the peat in some areas (if it had not been for the dams)." There are two reservoirs at the base of the Goyt Valley owned by United Utilities, which also owns the surrounding Lawrance, a catchment officer for the company, said: "It is just an incredibly sad situation."We have seen them before, these big moorland fires, and know how devastating they are for the wildlife and the habitat up here, for the people who visit, for the people who work and manage this area."So it is always an awful experience when we get a big wildfire like this."A Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "The fire service supports the regeneration of moorland in the Peak District and work undertaken through the Moors for the Future Partnership."This vital work to restore the moors includes re-wetting which can help to reduce the risk and severity of wildfires."
