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Wildlife Trusts habitat projects aim to tackle climate crisis

PAtrick Jeffries Chalkhill Blue butterflyPAtrick Jeffries
The scheme hopes to help three butterfly species thrive in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire - the chalk hill blue (pictured), small blue and Duke of Burgundy

Wildlife projects to help tackle the effects of climate change and restore animal habitats have been unveiled by a charity.

The Wildlife Trusts schemes include improving fragmented wetlands across England and Wales to pave the way for reintroducing more beavers to the UK.

Coastal saltmarshes in Essex will be also expanded and and peatland habitats in five counties restored.

Funding of £2m has been provided by the People's Postcode Lottery.

The "nature-based solutions" will help the UK in its goals to cut carbon emissions to "net zero" by 2050, The Wildlife Trusts said.

Julie Hatcher A seahorse amongst seagrass off the Sussex coastJulie Hatcher
A seahorse amongst seagrass off the Sussex coast

Chief executive Craig Bennett described nature as "our biggest ally in limiting global temperature rises".

"We need to cut emissions at source to fight climate change and we can also have a big impact by restoring nature because wilder places lock up carbon," he said.

"That means repairing the amazing habitats in our seas, rewetting peatlands, dramatically changing how we manage farmland, rewilding landscapes, and bringing back habitats that have been lost."

David Parkyn Beaver eating a brambleDavid Parkyn
It is hoped beavers will flourish as a result of wetlands and peatlands being improved across the Meres and Mosses of the north-west Midlands area and Wales

The 12 "high impact" projects will focus on:

  • Creating habitat features to help temperature-sensitive butterflies in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire
  • Restoring fragmented wetlands, paving the way to bring back beavers in Cheshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire and North Wales
  • Peatland repair and sphagnum moss farming in Cumbria, to create a vast nature reserve within the South Lakeland district
  • A woodland creation and restoration in the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire to help reintroduce species of pine marten
  • Developing a site at Woodah Farm in Devon to explore the impact less intensive farming while focusing on revitalising soil health
  • Expanding saltmarsh restoration along the Essex coast to help encourage sediment accumulation and plant growth
  • Seagrass restoration in the Solent on the Hampshire coast to increase biodiversity. Seagrasses capture carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests
  • Creating a nature recovery network in Nottinghamshire to improve soil and water quality, including the introduction of five species of herbs and grasses
  • Natural flood management measures across a river catchment in Sheffield and Rotherham with the creation of woodlands and rewetting former wetlands
  • Survey work to enable lowland peatland restoration and development of techniques to monitor carbon capture and emissions in Somerset
  • Working with local fishery managers to restore a lost kelp forest off the Sussex coast to provide a crucial habitat for juvenile fish
  • Restoration of the Great North Bog - a gigantic swathe of peat bog across Yorkshire, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire and Northumberland
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Fleet Moss restoration in The Great North BogYorkshire Wildlife Trust
Fleet Moss restoration, The Great North Bog
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