THE LOTTERY OF LIFE
Stand in the valley bottom at Miterdale, and you’ll see towering swathes of windblown conifers, interrupted by the luminous green of rhododendron. But that’s about it.
“These are not native species,” says Professor Dominick Spracklen of the School of Earth and Environment (MChem 1999; PhD Environment 2005). "Rhododendrons outcompete native vegetation, they spread rapidly and they’re hard to control.” Combine that with conifers and overgrazing sheep, and the native plants and animals have been forced out.
A new project, Nature Rich Miterdale, will restore biodiversity to the 562-hectare site in the Western Lake District National Park. It is the sixth project to launch under The Alliance for Northern Nature, a groundbreaking partnership led by the University to create and revive heathlands, woodlands and peatlands, and encourage wildlife to return across the UK.
We want to demonstrate that these projects are transformative – not just for nature, but the local communities, too.
The latest project is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency. “The funding is transformational in allowing us to start a key project which has been five years in the planning,” says Dominick. “Miterdale forms a key corridor between two existing conservation projects in Ennerdale and the Duddon Valley, and will allow nature to spread naturally.”
Leeds research has highlighted that the process of natural regeneration increases resilience to new diseases and the impacts of climate change, and improves carbon storage. Restoring woodlands can also reduce the risk of flooding during extreme storms by over 15 per cent.
“Leeds takes a very applied role with these projects – we translate knowledge into action, and that's really unique,” says Dominick. “By partnering with the National Trust and Forestry England we can deliver more nature recovery than any one of us can do on our own, much faster.”
At Miterdale, the landscape will be transformed into a thriving mosaic of wildlife-rich environments, including upland oak-birch woodlands, species- rich grasslands, heathlands, and wet flushes. “The entire ecosystem can start to develop again,” says Dominick. “Hundreds of species of invertebrate live on oak trees, for example. So that will attract the native birds – such as tree pipits and cuckoos – back to Miterdale.”
As with other projects, the team will engage local people through volunteering. Volunteers have the opportunity to develop skills and potentially secure employment in the conservation sector.
But the Miterdale project will go a step further, gathering data to assess the impact upon volunteer wellbeing. “We know spending time outdoors can have massive benefits for mental health and reduce the burden of the NHS. We want to create an evidence base and understand why that’s the case.
“We want to demonstrate that these projects are transformative – not just for nature, but the local communities, too.”
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