A wool company has bought a 158-acre plot of land in the Lake District to help increase agroforestry measures and restore peat bog.
Community interest company Buy Land Plant Trees has used proceeds from its parent firm Chimney Sheep, known for its Herdwick Wool chimney draught excluders, to buy the land on Low Fell.
In line with the global COP26 Goals, the 158-acre plot near Loweswater in the Western Lake District will form part of its strategy to act at a local level to help reduce and further prevent the effects of climate change.
This will be achieved via the planting of trees, the re-establishment of moorland and the restoration of a peat bog on the Wainwright fell.
The restoration project will be undertaken by ecologist and Director of Chimney Sheep, Sally Phillips helped by Woodland Trust and Cumbria Rivers Trust.
The main aims of the Low Fell planting project will be to increase carbon capture, help with local flood mitigation and increase habitats for local wildlife.
The restoration of the peat bog will also play a key role in the aims of the project, in line with the government’s goals to restore the peatland across the UK.
In the long term, the bog will act as a significant carbon store with the potential to hold 30–70kg of carbon per cubic meter, alongside the capability of holding up to 20 times its own weight in water which will further contribute to flood prevention in the area.
Sally Phillips, the director of Chimney Sheep said “The work we put into restoring the landscape to a more natural state on Low Fell will help to reduce some of the impacts of climate change in our local area.
"The next few months will be spent fixing fences, giving the land a rest from grazing to allow the heather and bilberry to recover, starting the process of the restoration of the peat bog and beginning the planting of the willow trees."
She added: “In the longer term, we would also like to promote agroforestry on Low Fell by eventually get some livestock back on the land working alongside the increased vegetation.
"At Chimney Sheep we work closely with the farming community to source the Herdwick wool for our products and are also very passionate about the environment."
This is the third piece of land bought by Chimney Sheep’s Community Interest Company, Buy Land Plant Trees.
The other two plots measure 13 and 7acres where a total of 37,000 trees have been planted by the company, funded by grants, 20% of the profit from Chimney Sheep and donations.
