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Peatland Restoration - North Yorkshire, England
The project is restoring degraded blanket bog in the Yorkshire Dales National Park: a habitat which is critical for carbon storage, water regulation and biodiversity. Restoration measures include ditch blocking, hagg re-profiling, and re-vegetation with sphagnum moss. These processes re-wet the bog, halt erosion, and enable peat-forming vegetation to return, sequestering carbon while also improving water quality and enhancing natural flood management.
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Project information
Peatland recovery in the Yorkshire Dales
The project is restoring 72.39 hectares of degraded blanket bog in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a habitat of national importance for carbon storage, water regulation, and specialist biodiversity. Decades of drainage and grazing pressures left large areas eroded and vulnerable to carbon loss. To reverse this decline, restoration measures include blocking ditches to re-wet the bog, re-profiling haggs to stabilise eroded slopes, and re-vegetating bare peat with sphagnum moss and other bog plants.
These interventions raise the water table, halt further erosion, and create the conditions for peat-forming vegetation to recover, gradually rebuilding the bog’s natural resilience. The project is expected to avoid 15,926 tCO₂e, while also improving water quality, enhancing natural flood management, and strengthening hydrological and ecological connectivity with neighbouring peatlands.
Rigorous monitoring of bare peat cover, vegetation recovery, and water table levels supports adaptive management, complemented by breeding bird surveys every five years. The project team actively engages with neighbouring farms, landowners, and partners including the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yorkshire Peat Partnership, and the Woodland Trust to share knowledge and build collaborative solutions. Looking ahead, links with citizen science initiatives such as the Great North Bog programme will create opportunities for local communities to contribute directly to monitoring and research.
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Intervention
Restoring and Protecting Wetland Ecosystems
Location
England
Standard
Peatland Carbon Code (PCC)
Credit Type
Carbon Avoidance
Sustainable Goals
Project performance
The Earthly rating
The Earthly rating is the industry-first holistic project assessment. Earthly researchers analyse 160+ data points, aggregating information across the three vital pillars of carbon, biodiversity and people. Projects in Earthly's marketplace all exceed a minimum score of 5/10.
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Carbon
~16k
estimated annual carbon sequestration (tCO2e)
Biodiversity
24
bird species recorded in surveys within and in the vicinity of the site
Social
72.39 ha
of blanket bog restored, contributing to the Yorkshire Dales National Park's objectives
Project impact
Local impact
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This image highlights the project area. As the project progresses, Earthly will continue to monitor changes within the project area and its neighbouring regions using satellite imagery.
Project area: through time
The project is located in a remote site in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, surrounded by farmland and moorland, with the nearest settlement being Hawes, six miles to the north. The Park’s peatlands are a nationally important carbon store, covering around 55,000 hectares and in places reaching depths of up to seven metres.
Widespread drainage during the 1970s and 1980s left much of the peatland degraded, and today, less than 20% of Yorkshire’s peatlands remain undamaged. As a result, peatland restoration in this area has become a priority.
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Positive for people
The Swarthghyll site is located in a rural area, surrounded by farmland and moorland. Historically, the land was drained to expand livestock grazing into boggy areas that would not otherwise support farming, leading to peat degradation from livestock disturbance and exposure to wind and rain. The land was acquired by the Future Forest Company in 2021 with the aim of maximising carbon removal through woodland creation and peatland restoration. Since then, the project team has engaged actively with local stakeholders, including neighbouring farms, landowners, and organisations such as the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yorkshire Peat Partnership, and the Woodland Trust, which owns adjacent land. Regular dialogue is maintained with these partners to discuss woodland and peatland issues, share knowledge, and build collaborative solutions.
To broaden participation, the project provides multiple accessible engagement routes: in-person meetings, online forms, signage with QR codes, email and phone contacts. Communication materials are designed to be clear and inclusive, and participation is monitored to ensure representation from a wide range of stakeholders, including local landowners, community councils, recreational groups, and schools. This helps ensure that a diversity of voices informs project decisions. Looking ahead, the project is expected to link with citizen science initiatives, such as those developed by the northern Wildlife Trusts under the Great North Bog programme, creating opportunities for local communities to contribute directly to monitoring and research.
Beyond engagement, the restoration itself provides wider public benefits. By rewetting peat and halting oxidation, the project improves air quality and reduces CO₂ emissions. Restored peatlands also indirectly buffer local temperatures by retaining water, and enhances biodiversity that supports cultural and recreational values important to people living in and visiting the Dales.
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Good for earth
The sites contains areas of actively eroding and drained peat, where exposed soils were highly vulnerable to loss through wind, rain, and disturbance. To address these drivers of degradation, restoration measures include blocking ditches with peat dams to re-wet the bog and re-profiling eroded haggs and gullies to stabilise slopes and reduce erosion. Bare peat is stabilised and re-vegetated to limit sediment and carbon loss, creating conditions for bog vegetation to recover. These interventions raise the water table, enabling peat-forming plants to recolonise.
As vegetation returns, water quality improves, natural flood management is enhanced, and the peatland’s natural resilience is gradually restored. Biodiversity is also expected to benefit as the habitat recovers. Baseline bird surveys have already recorded 24 species, including five of principal conservation concern (skylark, curlew, lapwing, red grouse, and black grouse), highlighting the importance of the area for wildlife.
The site forms part of a wider landscape of restoration, connecting hydrologically and ecologically with peatlands to the northeast. Ongoing monitoring of bare peat cover, vegetation recovery, and water table levels supports adaptive management, with breeding bird surveys planned every five years to track ecological outcomes.
How we assess for quality
The Earthly scoring process
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