New £5million project to revive Peak District woodland ravines hit by ash dieback disease

The LIFE in the Ravines partnership project will tackle the threat that ash dieback poses to 900 hectares of forested river valleys of the Peak District.

Natural England’s chief executive Marian Spain, said: “I’m so pleased that we are able to work together with our partners to support nature’s recovery. This innovative project will help restore the landscape and wildlife of this much-loved area of the country.

“People who live and visit the Peak District will be able to appreciate the natural beauty of the woodland habitats once again and for generations to come.”

The fungal dieback disease arrived in the Peak District in 2015, and threatens to devastate the region’s ravine forests, which are dominated by ash.

Areas targeted by the project all lie within the Peak District Dales Special Area of Conservation, including the five dales of the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve.

The woods already have high levels of infection and have lost mature trees. As the disease continues to spread, it will threaten all the woodland wildlife, from rare beetles and moths to birds such as redstarts.

The new project, largely funded by a £3.6m grant from the EU LIFE programme, will see the spaces left by dying ash filled by newly planted lime and wych elm trees.

Those ash trees which might be resilient to the disease will be helped to regenerate naturally, and additional planting of aspen, willow and other trees will add to the diversity of wildlife in the woods and build resilience against other threats such as climate change and flooding.

Project partners include the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and the Chatsworth Estate, as well as the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire Dales District Council, the Arkwright Society, the Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust.

Lessons learned from the programme will be used to save other woodlands across the UK and Europe.

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