The Carbon Landscape

The restoration of the peat base to lowland raised bog provided an opportunity for carbon sequestration and storage.

The Carbon Landscape aimed to develop a new community-focused approach to the restoration of a landscape transformed by heavy industries such as coal mining, peat extraction and steel production; The project has 3 broad objectives 

1. Restoration – to continue restoring a derelict landscape ensuring connectivity and resilience 

2. Access – to reconnect people to the landscape 

3. Understanding – to raise awareness and develop community ownership in the landscape 

Other goals of project: - Research and wildlife surveys to strengthen ecological networks and climate change resilience; -reduce wildfire risk: When large areas of peat between these major cities in the North West dry out, they become fire hazards; -A number of initiatives within the Carbon Landscape portfolio aimed to contribute to improved water quality, increased flood resilience and improved biodiversity and will be developed in association with Natural Course partners.

€100,000 - €500,000

Environmental impacts

• Climate change
• Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
• Enhanced carbon sequestration
• Water management and blue areas
• Improved water quality
• Increased protection against flooding
• Green space and habitat
• Increased green space area
• Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
• Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
• Increased conversion of degraded land or soil
• Restoration of derelict areas
• Other

Economic impacts

• Stimulate development in deprived areas

Socio-cultural impacts

• Social justice and cohesion
• Improved social cohesion
• Improved access to urban green space
• Increased opportunities for social interaction
• Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
• Health and wellbeing
• Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
• Cultural heritage and sense of place
• Improvement in people’s connection to nature
• Protection of natural heritage
• Increased sense of place identity, memory and belonging
• Increased appreciation for natural spaces
• Education
• Increased support for education and scientific research
• Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
• Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
• Safety
• Increased perception of safety

• Some activities from the project will include: Major landscape restoration programme (restoration of the peat base to lowland raised bog) 
• Creation of a Landscape Traineeship Scheme
• Improved and increased volunteering opportunities through a training and rewards and recognition programme 
• Research and wildlife surveys to strengthen ecological networks and climate change resilience 
• Improved access through the landscape with the development of the Carbon Trail
• Increased appreciation of the importance of our landscape and the role carbon plays in its creation, exploitation and restoration. When large areas of peat between these major cities in the North West dry out, they become fire hazards. This project restored these rare habitats, allowing them to soak up and store rainwater. Re-wetting the bogs reduced the risks of fires, such as those that were ravaging Saddleworth Moors.
• A number of initiatives within the Carbon Landscape portfolio aimed to contribute to improved water quality, increased flood resilience and improved biodiversity and will be developed in association with Natural Course partners - 7,000 plants have been added to Little Woolden Moss, Salford, in week-long effort to improve the landscape - The planting project has consisted of adding hare’s-tail cottongrass and cross-leaved heath to the site, both typical plants of a healthy lowland peat bog
• Research and wildlife surveys to strengthen ecological networks and climate change resilience; The restoration of the peat base to lowland raised bog; reduce wildfire risk: When large areas of peat between these major cities in the North West dry out, they become fire hazards. This project restored these rare habitats, allowing them to soak up and store rainwater. Re-wetting the bogs reduced the risks of fires, such as those that were ravaging Saddleworth Moors. Increased flood resilience and improved biodiversity and will be developed in association with Natural Course partners.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust

None provided

The Carbon Landscape is a pioneering project in landscape restoration in Wigan, Warrington and Salford. Led by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, it will revitalize a landscape left devastated by decades of coal-mining and peat extraction (Ref 5). It works to restore key habitats and reconnect local people with their unique natural heritage, preserving it for future generations. The restoration of the peat base to lowland raised bog provided an opportunity for carbon sequestration and storage (Ref 1). There is a strong vision to reconnect local people with their rich natural heritage, creating opportunities and a sense of pride in the local area.

1. Lancashire Manchester North Merseyside. (n.d). Transforming Landscapes. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 8 July 2020)
2. Lancashire Manchester North Merseyside. (2018). 7,000 plants added as part of restoration work on local peatland. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 8 July 2020)
3. Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub. (2017). North West Industrial Heritage to be Restored. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 8 July 2020)
4. Carbon Landscape. (n.d.). About. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 8 July 2020)
5. The University of Manchester. (n.d.). The Carbon Landscape. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 8 July 2020)
6. Carbon Landscape Citizen Science Project. (n.d.) Introduction. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 18 July 2020)
7. Natural Course. (2017). The Carbon Landscape Project Launch. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 18 July 2020)
8. Source link. (2018). First major Carbon Landscape restoration project is officially opened. Available at: Source link (Accessed: 18 July 2020)