SKIDDAW FOREST: ONE YEAR ON
Thank you
Securing Skiddaw Forest and its restoration
would not have been possible without your support
few trees. Its future lies in ambitious plans to bring back something truly special: lost temperate rainforest and healthy peatlands. Now, a year into the project, the seeds are literally and metaphorically being sown. Te team leading this transformation has already made a good start in laying the groundwork for decades of ecological restoration ahead.
Big plans A
year ago, we achieved something remarkable. Aſter months of effort, thousands of public donations,
and the most successful fundraising campaign in our history, the Trust completed the purchase of Skiddaw Forest: 12 square kilometres of rugged, upland wilderness nestled in the heart of the iconic northern fells, now the highest nature reserve in England. Tis huge area, crowned by the
931-metre summit of Skiddaw itself, isn’t a forest in the traditional sense. Instead, it’s a remote, open sweep of high fell and blanket bog, and, like most parts of the English uplands, it contains very
Restoring a landscape like Skiddaw Forest doesn’t happen overnight. Since the start of the project we have been referring to a hundred-year vision, and rightly so, as the goals stretch far into the future. Over the coming decades, the Trust aims to recreate around 620 acres of upland temperate rainforest, rich in oak, birch, rowan and hazel, festooned with mosses and lichens, and alive with birds, and insects. Tis habitat will be slow to develop, not least because the trees will be planted at high altitude and will be slow-growing. Alongside this, the restoration of peat
bogs will continue, reversing decades of damage and helping to tackle climate change by keeping carbon locked away and improving water quality downstream. And crucially, the site will remain
open to those who want to connect with a place that feels truly wild.
Laying the foundations
Te first 12 months have been about geting underlying things in place: collecting baseline ecological data,
building partnerships, talking to local communities, and navigating the regulatory permissions required to underpin a project as big as this. A crucial part of this early phase
M
has been rigorous scientific surveying. Tese baseline surveys will allow us to monitor the changes in species and habitat types as restoration develops, providing the data necessary to assess and adapt our approach if needed. An interim bird
A
breeding report has already been delivered, showing
the breeding success of all bird species
this year. Tis report has shown that the bird
assemblage on Skiddaw Forest
is very much what would be expected of a site with litle structural diversity, and is very similar to what we see on other upland sites across England. Te most abundant species nesting this year was meadow pipit, with 250 pairs estimated across the site, plus large numbers of red grouse (58 pairs) and wren (65 pairs) being found. Skylark, another species associated with heavily-grazed uplands, saw 35 pairs breeding, but they were largely confined to the species-poor acid grassland to the south-west of the site. Tis kind of data will help measure the impact on bird populations of reweting peatlands and expanding woodlands. Meanwhile, the majority of the site’s National Vegetation Classification (NVC) report has been completed, providing a detailed map of existing habitats. Tis essential tool informs what can be restored where, and ensure sensitive areas are protected.
Cumbrian Wildlife | November 2025
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