Restoring peatlands: teaming up to protect communities

An initial shared response to damaged peatlands slowly grew into a living lab where scientists, landowners and locals teamed up and exchanged expertise. Combining scientific methods and practitioner knowledge, the team demonstrated how nature-based restoration measures can slow rainwater runoff, reduce storm peaks and help protect communities at risk of flooding – evidence now shaping national policy and codes of practice.

How the impact happens 

Historical industrial pollution, intensive land management, climate change and high visitor numbers have all contributed to the degradation of moorland and peatland in the Peak District. Since 2003, the Moors for the Future Partnership has led a long‑term programme of restoration, working closely with University researchers to gather evidence and monitor outcomes. Over time, this collaboration began to shed light on how large-scale restoration of damaged landscapes can play a powerful role in natural flood management (NFM).  

Building on this foundation, the NERC-funded Protect-NFM project (2018–2024) built on previous decades of partnership and brought together a close-knit team with diverse scientific and local knowledge from several organisations. Combining their skills, the team showed that restoring damaged peatlands is not simply environmental repair, but a practical form of flood protection. By working with natural landscape processes, they demonstrated how restoration can restore the peatland's ability to slow the flow of water into upland rivers.  

For places like Glossop and Stalybridge, flood protection doesn’t always mean concrete walls. Healthy upland peatlands act as natural infrastructure. When Sphagnum moss recovers and vegetation returns, rainwater runoff takes much longer to leave the moors than when the ground is bare. Slower flows mean smaller, later flood peaks downstream. 

This teamwork also reveals what is possible when impact emerges from building long-term relationships, especially when people are willing to work with one another rather than around each other. The team comprises researchers from The University of Manchester, practitioners from the Moors for the Future Partnership, the Environment Agency, land managers and flood authorities; they have learned together on the moorlands, tested ideas and operated within the real constraints of the landscape. Thanks to the deep trust that has developed, the partners now regard their restoration more experimentally as they trial, measure and refine what they do based on evidence collected and interpreted together through this unique ‘outdoor lab’ environment. The site’s importance is now formally recognised: the boundary of the Kinder Scout National Nature Reserve has been expanded to include the field site – a powerful endorsement of the value of long-term, evidence-led partnership. 

Physical geographer Dr Emma Shuttleworth describes how that approach shaped the collaboration: “One of the reasons we work so well together is because we’re all pulling in the same direction. We might all be coming from slightly different angles, but ultimately, we all care about restoring damaged peatland environments.” That shared purpose helped the team navigate moments of tension, particularly around pace. Practitioners needed evidence quickly to support funding and on-the-ground action, while academics needed time to be confident in the data. The response was not to compromise rigour, but to communicate openly and adapt together. For example, when some gully-blocking designs to prevent water draining downstream didn’t perform as expected, the team paused before changing course. Iteration became central to how the team worked together. 

Teamwork makes the peat work 

The team’s diverse perspectives made sure that restoration worked for people. From gully block designs to prioritising Sphagnum planting locations, team members had to align or compromise in order to achieve overarching common goals: restoring the flood mitigating effects of healthy peatland. Tom Spencer, a Senior Research and Monitoring Officer at Moors for the Future Partnership, with experience of both restoration and research says: “I’m out at the field site every month, so I can spot and resolve potential issues before they cause significant problems.” By including diverse expertise and staying connected to the landscape, the team ensures that restoration decisions are informed by robust evidence and shared.  

Impact here was not driven by speed or scale, but by trust, adaptation and a commitment to the common good. “We couldn’t have done this without working in partnership,” says Professor Martin Evans, Principal Investigator at The University of Manchester at the time and now Professor of Geomorphology at Durham University, "It was twenty years of working with restoration organisations and landowners that allowed us to even conceive this project.” 

Moving forward 

These trusted relationships are now carrying the findings into ongoing conversations with the Environment Agency, where evidence is being interpreted collaboratively and explored for use in national flood models and future investment decisions. For example, recent catchment modelling for Glossop indicates that restoring approximately 40% of the upstream catchment would likely reduce a 1‑in‑100‑year flood peak by more than 20%.  

For Emma, the emphasis remains on staying close to both people and place: “I enjoy working at the local scale, dealing with the problem in front of me,” she says, “because it’s those smaller communities that will see the most benefit.” 

Similar initiatives such as the IUCN UK Peatland Programme are now helping translate this shared learning into policy guidance, extending its reach beyond the Peak District. While the next phase for researchers at The University of Manchester is about maintaining that connective role by continuing long-term monitoring, co-developing new projects and adapting evidence as new questions emerge.  

Impact here is not a fixed outcome, but an ongoing practice of collaboration, with mutual growth and care for the landscapes – and communities – at its heart.