The Yorkshire iCASP Action Site covers a range of blanket peatland across Northern England including parts of three National Parks: Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors.

Across the area there are roughly 80,000 hectares (ha) of peat still to be restored. The peat is several metres deep and an important carbon store, which is currently subject to severe erosion.

These upland peatlands are among the most important water supply systems in the world and deliver water to several million people. The Action Site will enable restoration in around 2,000ha with a view to upscaling the work across much of the 80,000ha.

There is mixed land ownership including by the private regional water utility, large private estates and charitable organisations. The precise area to be restored through co-creation with regional stakeholders will be funded either by private investment or through public investment via the England Peat Strategy’s Nature for Climate Fund allocation.

WaterLANDS Action Site funding will support the coordination of wider investment and upscaling, embedding techniques to maximise carbon and water ecosystem services, improve community engagement, and engage with governance processes.

Successful results at the Action Site will also directly inform the future of the England Peat Strategy via the involvement of Defra as the Government body responsible for national policy and funding and the IUCN UK Peatland programme who manage the UK’s Peatland Code as a private financing instrument to support peatland restoration. Thus, there is outstanding potential for landscape-scale upscaling at the national UK level as a result of WaterLANDS.