The Moors for the Future Partnership's conservation team is gearing up for a busy New Year, as works are set to get underway on the ground across the South Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation, before the start of the breeding bird season in March.
Members of the team have spent the last few weeks engaging closely with partners, land owners and managers to set up surveys and discuss upcoming conservation work.
Gully blocking - to block or dam eroding channels in blanket bog and raise the water table - has been taking place on a site in the High Peak borough called Peak Naze, which lies between the well-known Snake Pass and Woodhead Pass routes.
There has also been helicopter flying of heather brash – containing heather seeds, mosses, lichens and fungi - onto other High Peak sites. The brash has a number of purposes including acting as a protective skin to reduce the effects of erosion, and a microclimate for seeds to grow in as they’re sheltered from the harsh winter weather.
