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The problem with the Staffordshire Moorlands is the same with most things we see in an every-day ‘ordinary’ context; to those who live in and around them, they seem just that - everyday and ordinary!Ìý

Try telling an Amazonian smallholder why the rain forest is globally important and the chances are you’ll get a blank look.ÌýThat person sees rain forest every day. To them, it’s not particularly special.Ìý

And yet ‘Blanket bog’, those wet areas of deep peat which occur on the flat summits of many of our moorlands, is one of the world's rarest habitats and is even more threatened than tropical rainforests!

Blanket bog occurs in such far away places as Kamchatka (Siberia), Tierra del Fuego (Southern Chile), the Riwanzari Mountains (Africa), as well as right here in the Staffordshire Peak District. And because we see it everyday we sometimes are unaware just how important it is.

There are two main types of moor in the Peak District: Heather Dominated Heath; and Blanket Mire (Bog). Both of these are important. From a global perspective they are more scarce than other more well known types of habitat, including tropical rain forest!

In the UK we have over 70% of the world’s heather moorland as well as 20% of the world's peat bog.

This is one of the reasons that practically all of the moorland areas within the Peak District National Park, including the Staffordshire MoorlandsÌýare Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs); the highest category of protection under UK legislation.
They are also a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) which is the highest level of European Union protection they can have.Ìý

You can find out more about these categories and the plants and animals that live there from the Natural England website. Click on the link below:

Climate change

As well as theire ecological value, our Peat Areas are becoming recognised for another equally important reason: they are felt to be key in how we tackleÌýclimate change.

Carbon dioxide (a combination of carbon and oxygen) is one of the main so called ‘greenhouse gases’ which are thought to be accelerating the process of global warming.
Plants take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen.Ìý In doing so, they take carbon out of the atmosphere as they grow, and they ‘lock it up’ within themselves.Ìý It forms part of their building blocks.

When plants die, they decay and release that carbon back into the atmosphere. However in peat systems, their high water content excludes air, which suspends the process of decay.ÌýPeat is therefore made up of partially decayed plants, some going back thousands of years

This process only works though, when the peat is covered by a living layer of vegetation. If the peat is exposed, it dries out and erodes away through wind and rain.

All of this means that peat systems are becoming increasingly recognised as one of our key weapons in tackling climate change.
Peatlands are the single largest carbon reserve in the UK. They store around 3 billion tonnes of carbon, the equivalent of 20 years of the UK’s CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions.

Scientists from Durham University have calculated that if we can safeguard all the peat moors across the UK,Ìý they will be able to take enough carbon out of the atmosphere to equal one BILLION miles driven by an average family car each and every year!

Staffordshire

The Peak District Moorlands alone store between 16 and 20 million tons of C02. More carbon is stored in UK peat than in the forests of Britain and France combined.Ìý

If these moorlands are damaged by wildfires, air pollution or inappropriate land management, it results in erosion, which releases all of that stored up carbon back into the atmosphere.

One major way we are seeking not only conserve the Moorlands, but to actively enhance them and repair many years of damage from fire and pollution, is through the ‘Moors for the Future’ project.Ìý You can find out lots more about these unique areas through the ‘Moors for the Future’ website. Click on the link below:

Another way we are seeking to protect the moors is in partnership with other bodies and agencies.Ìý

Working with the Fire Services around the park, including Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, we have formed the Fire Operations Group (FOG).Ìý In doing so we have been able to rapidly reduce response times to moorland fires and dramatically increase effectiveness in fighting them.

Sean Prendergast (Peak District National Park Officer)