The Wild Peak appeal aims to raise £100,000 by 31 October to create a richer, more connected landscape where wildlife can return and recover, while bringing wider benefits for people and nature.
With £49,000 already raised, the appeal is almost halfway to its £100,000 target, with just one month left to reach the goal. The Trust is calling on members, supporters and the public to help raise the remaining funds needed to put back the missing pieces wildlife needs to thrive and make the landscape more resilient to climate change.
Across the Peak District, habitats are becoming increasingly degraded and fragmented, leaving wildlife with fewer places to feed, shelter and move. The result is a landscape that may seem wild and thriving at first glance, but look closer and some of the crucial pieces are missing.
This summer’s heat and drought have once again shown how vulnerable our landscapes can be. As the region faces increasingly extreme weather, restoring those missing pieces and creating more resilient landscapes through natural processes is becoming more urgent than ever.
The appeal will support vital work to restore and reconnect these habitats, not only helping create the conditions for wildlife to return and thrive, but also bringing wider benefits such as storing carbon, holding back water and improving water quality.
Once a familiar sight on the Peak District’s moors, black grouse were famous for their spectacular springtime displays, where males gather to lek and compete for a mate. Today, they have disappeared from Derbyshire’s uplands.
The loss of the black grouse is about more than one missing bird. It tells us something bigger is missing from the landscape. The habitats, connections and conditions wildlife needs to thrive are missing too.
Black grouse are not alone. Species such as the red-backed shrike, once a common bird across the UK has disappeared from our landscapes. Flowers that were once abundant in fields and meadows, like the maiden pink are also becoming increasingly rare across the peak district landscape.
The good news is that nature can recover. There is now an incredible opportunity to restore and reconnect habitats across the Wild Peak, creating the conditions wildlife needs to return to the landscape once again.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is already working alongside farmers, landowners, communities and partners to create a richer, wilder and more connected landscape across the Wild Peak. Working together, we can give nature more space to recover while making the landscape better able to withstand the pressures it faces. But nature recovery takes time, and it needs all of us.
