This week we’re marking the Defra and DESNZ Climate and Nature Moment with fantastic nature restoration stories showing how National Landscapes teams are contributing to 30by30 - an international target that almost 200 countries, including the UK, have signed up to: to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030. 

Since 2006, the North Pennines National Landscape team’s work alongside farmers, land managers, gamekeepers, Natural England and contractors, has brought over 50,000 hectares of peatland under restoration. This makes it one of the largest and most successful peatland restoration initiatives in Europe. 

The ongoing programme of work expands the area of habitat being actively managed for nature, while improving the condition of protected sites and priority habitats. This active management and restoration to improve habitat condition and ecological function makes the North Pennines peatland programme a perfect example of how National Landscapes teams are delivering 30by30 at scale. 

The 30by30 commitment requires not only the protection of land of existing wildlife-rich habitat, but also the restoration and creation of more habitat; all of which must be effectively managed for nature long-term. 

A defining feature of the North Pennines National Landscape team’s work is the delivery of sustained annual progress and the use of blended finance to support it. Each year, the team typically leads on bringing 2,000 hectares of peatland under restoration, ensuring a continuous contribution to England's nature recovery targets. 

Restoration activities – including grip blocking (blocking artificial channels to allow the peat to rewet), hydrological restoration, erosion stabilisation and revegetation – help reconnect fragmented habitats and restore the natural processes that underpin healthy blanket bog ecosystems. These actions support a wide range of upland wildlife, improve ecological resilience and contribute directly to the creation of larger, better and more connected habitats, which are central principles of England's approach to delivering 30by30.

The scale of delivery is internationally significant and attracts financing from across Europe. The area brought under restoration through the work of the North Pennines National Landscape team is equivalent to more than four times the size of Newcastle upon Tyne and represents a substantial proportion of England's upland peatland. By consistently restoring a further 2,000 hectares every year, the National Landscape team and partners continue to enable the North Pennines to make a measurable contribution towards increasing the amount of the country’s land that is effectively conserved and managed for nature.

This sustained, landscape-scale approach shows that achieving 30by30 is not dependent on designations alone. It requires long-term investment in habitat recovery and stewardship. Through its annual restoration programme, the North Pennines National Landscape team in collaboration with Estates, farmers and contractors, is helping government translate the ambition of 30by30 into practical on-the-ground action, delivering lasting benefits for biodiversity, climate resilience, water management and local communities.