Rishworth Common (MoorLIFE Project)

Rishworth Common, which includes Rishworth and Moss Moor, sits within the South Pennine Moors SSSI. Covering 1727 ha, it is largely blanket bog, which had been degraded as a result of wild fire and atmospheric pollution.

The site is owned by Yorkshire Water.

Restoration delivered through the MoorLIFE Project included:

• 2,000 bags of heather brash helicoptered onto site and spread
• Half a kilometre of geotextiles used to stabilise bare peat and prevent further erosion
• 860 tonnes of lime spread to temporarily reduce soil acidity and enable nursery crops of grass and heather seed to kickstart the revegetation process and stabilise the soil
• Planting of over 28,000 plug plants including native bilberry and cottongrass
• 570 million Sphagnum fragments spread and 3240 Spahgnum plug plants introduced.

Birds of European importance here include the dunlin, snipe, curlew and twite, which breed and feed on Rishworth Common.

The curlew overwinters in Morecambe Bay and then flies inland to breed.

The MoorLIFE project was made possible by a £5.5m grant from the European Union’s LIFE+ programme. 

MoorLIFE’s scale and success is very much the result of partnership working. The project was co-ordinated by the Peak District National Park, delivered by Moors for the Future Partnership and co-funded by the European Commission’s Life+ Programme. Partners included Environment Agency, Natural England, National Trust, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water.