Great North Bog

The Great North Bog is a pioneering, landscape-scale restoration initiative spearheaded by six ‘Peatland Partnerships’ in protected areas spanning nearly 7,000 square kilometers across the north of England. Collectively, the upland peatlands of the Great North Bog are estimated to store 400 million tonnes of carbon, making a significant contribution to the UK’s climate and carbon commitments. They also supply the drinking water to 15 million households in the surrounding area.

The Great North Bog (GNB) initiative builds on a 20 year track record of more localised restoration efforts (over 140,000 ha of uplands, approximately 20% of the degraded peatlands of the whole GNB landscape) by original lead partners at the North Pennines National Landscape, the Yorkshire Peat Partnership and the Moors for the Future Partnership. Latterly joined by the Northumberland Peat Partnership, Cumbria Peat Partnership and Lancashire Peat Partnership, the six Great North Bog delivery partners have a vision to significantly scale up restoration through collaboration and aggregation, and exponentially grow their impact.

Bog in Northumberland © RamblingTog, Adobe Stock

The team is co-creating a decade-long, sustainably funded restoration and conservation plan, delivering tangible nature and water benefits to local communities, and climate benefits more widely. In support of the strategy, the GNB Steering Group is pursuing private sector partnerships to purchase voluntary carbon emission reductions using a nationally recognised carbon standard in the UK - the IUCN Peatland Code.

Through its participation in the EU Horizon WaterLANDS programme, the Landscape Finance Lab is assisting GNB in some of its work to engage corporate partners, as well as in developing options for GNB’s governance, including the development of a potential legal entity to formalise responsibilities and establish a vehicle for the flow of finance.

The Lab is also working closely with the University of Leeds and WaterLANDS Action Site Yorkshire iCASP (a project operating in the GNB landscape area) to identify areas of mutual interest with other peatland landscapes in the UK & Republic of Ireland via the ‘Peatland Finance Collective’.

Great North Bog restoration ©North Pennines National Landscape

Watch the Great North Bog/Yorkshire iCASP Action Site video produced by WaterLANDS:

Discover the Great North Bog and hear what WaterLANDS partners and collaborators have to say about the restoration of this unique and beautiful landscape.

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