Project Name

Border Mires

Country

England

Current land designations

SAC, SSSI, Ramsar site, part National Park

Specific location

Cumbria-Northumberland border

Year rewilding started

1970s

Grid reference

NT684013

Location

Latitude: 55 18 17 N Longitude: 02 29 52 W

Altitude

Project Management

Ownership: Forestry Commission;

Management:  Forestry Commission, English Nature, Border Mires Committee, Forestry Enterprise, Northumberland National Park, Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Area under rewilding (hectares)

11851ha (series of reserves from 2.5 to 400ha)

Project funding

Forestry Commission, DEFRA, some LIFE funding

Rewilding methods

Active Blanket bog regeneration: Removal of grazing pressures (ungrazed for 40-60 years - grazing in parts to allow for comparison); Removal of Conifer crops to allow mires to restore; drain blockage to restore natural hydrology

Habitats present

Peat bogs, transition mire and quaking bogs, marshes, heath, scrub, coniferous woodland

Target species

Large Heath butterfly, carnivorous sundew plant, Bog Bush cricket, Mire Pill beetle

Species reintroductions

None

Access to the area

Open public access

Links to further information

FC Kielder:

www.forestry.gov.uk/website/wildwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandNorthumberlandKielderKiedler

Northumberland WT:    www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/northumberland/Reserves10.htm