Moorland the size of Birmingham being lost every year

A NEW study has revealed that heather moorland the same size as the city of Birmingham is being lost every year in the UK - meaning that hundreds of acres of internationally important habitat is being lost to the detriment of nature and society.

The Heather Trust’s Heather Futures research has quantified, for the first time the extent of the UK’s iconic heather moorland habitat - and its historical and potential losses with the aim of providing robust evidence to inform policy makers when considering future land management regimes.

“The research is significant because, for many years, it has been widely recognised that our moorlands have been lost or degraded due to overgrazing, undergrazing, commercial afforestation and native woodland expansion,” said Katrina Candy, Director of The Heather Trust.

“This is of great concern, not just to The Heather Trust and our members, but to the many people who live and work in the uplands whose livelihoods depends on sustainable moorlands. The array of biodiversity that inhabits these special places and society as a whole is entirely dependent on healthy upland ecosystems to provide a wide range of benefits including clean drinking water and effective carbon sequestration.

“Despite general acknowledgment that these vital landscapes are being lost or degraded, there has been limited data on changes to the extent and quality of moorland habitats across the country. Therefore, where moorland is under threat, there was a limited evidence-base for decision-makers to consider when assessing the cumulative impacts of moorland habitat loss.”

Heather Futures has addressed this evidence gap by identifying the best available datasets on current and historical moorland extent across the UK to produce regional and national estimates of moorland range and historical moorland loss.

Ecologist David Jarrett led the project: “Our upland habitats are undergoing a period of rapid change driven by changing societal values, climate change and legislation. While there are many positives associated with these changes, it’s important that we are also aware of the impact of moorland habitat loss on some of our most cherished upland species like Curlew and Lapwing. These species are declining rapidly in the UK, and are becoming more and more dependent on the predator control associated with managed moorland.”

“We recognise that UK policy makers have a very difficult task, managing different interest groups and implementing strategies that address current and future demands on our natural resources. Heather Futures is so important because it confirms that UK moorland habitats are rapidly being lost and why, which means we can act on these findings and minimise the impact on upland biodiversity, flood management, climate change mitigation and adaptation and local communities, let alone the sheer visual impact of our iconic heather uplands and the cultural and wellbeing values associated with these spaces,” said Katrina.

“Heather Futures ensures that a robust evidence base on moorland conservation is available for policy-makers and statutory environment agencies to guide informed legislation and support mechanisms well into the future.”

Notes to Editors:

KEY FINDINGS

1. Estimated total losses of moorland between 1990 and 2023 were 609 km² in England, 6,696 km² in Scotland, 349km² in Wales, and 498 km² in Northern Ireland. This represents 21% (Northern Ireland), 15% (Scotland), 7% (Wales) and 7% (England) of the extent of moorland lost over 33 years. Across the UK, this equates to an area of moorland the size of Birmingham being lost each year.
   

2. Moorland was primarily converted to improved grassland (55%), coniferous woodland (34%) and broadleaved woodland (6%), though there was significant regional variation with coniferous woodland a more significant threat than improved grassland in many regions of Scotland.
   

3. Current targets for woodland expansion across the UK are 30,000 Ha per year, and annual planting rates are currently much lower than this. 88% of new coniferous planting (1990 – 2023) took place on moorland habitats, so there is likely to be significant further pressure on moorland habitat from continued expansion of coniferous woodland.
   

   Data Limitations - Where land transitions from moorland to woodland, either as a result of planting or natural regeneration, sites will still be classified as moorland in the dataset for some years as the trees establish, because in terms of the automatic classification of satellite images, a site will retain most of the characteristics of moorland as young trees establish, even though habitat transition to woodland is underway. Of woodland grants approved from 2015 onwards (including conifers, native, and natural regeneration) only a very small proportion are classed as woodland in the 2023 landcover dataset. While these areas retain many of the characteristics of moorland habitat, the site has de facto been lost as an open moorland habitat. This means that more recent tree planting is excluded from the data, and in the case where tree planting rates have been increasing in recent years (as is the case in most of the UK), the pace of land use change (from moorland to forestry) is likely to be significantly under-estimated.
   

IMPLICATIONS

1. Current land use policies have resulted in the loss and fragmentation of open moorland habitats with limited large-scale spatial strategy, and in many cases this has resulted in the creation of unconnected blocks of woodland which have detrimental effects on open ground species and offer limited positive biodiversity value.
   

2. Many red-listed open-ground bird species of conservation importance are in rapid decline as habitat is fragmented and managed moorland and the extent of effective predator control declines. In the last 30 years we have observed severe declines of open-ground species and species that benefit from moorland management such as Eurasian Curlew Numenius Arquata, Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria, and Black Grouse Lyrurus tetrix.
   

3. To maintain the benefits of moorland habitats, there is an urgent need to move towards more coherent, integrated, spatially targeted policies in the uplands that balance the benefits of maintaining large areas of contiguous, open moorland habitat with the important benefits associated with the restoration of large-scale native woodlands.
   

To request a printed copy, please email: info@heathertrust.co.uk

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Katrina Candy – katrina.candy@heathertrust.co.uk; 07776 857222

The Heather Trust:

The Heather Trust’s beneficiaries are those that benefit from resilient, sustainable heather moorland and associated environments.  In its broadest terms this is the population of Great Britain and its visitors, since well managed moors will provide public goods such as carbon storage, water management – both quality and flood risk management, rich, diverse and unique plant and animal communities, and recreational opportunities which benefit physical and mental wellbeing.  It will also provide rural communities with employment opportunities either through direct management of the moorland or in associated industries such as tourism and recreation, which aids community cohesion and resilience, ensuring our much-loved moorlands and uplands continue to be places for people as well as nature.

Thus, The Heather Trust wishes to see sustainable, resilient moorlands for the benefit of everyone.

To help make this vision a reality, our mission is to develop and promote sustainable, resilient moorlands through facilitation and collaboration; engagement and representation; education and demonstration based on research, experience and best practice.

www.heathertrust.co.uk