A visit to Gun Moor on a summer evening offers far reaching views over The Roaches and surrounding Staffordshire Moorlands. 

As flowering cotton grass shimmers in the breeze, visitors might be lucky enough to witness a rare natural spectacle. The male woodcock taking to the dusk sky, flying across his territory in straight lines while grunting. All an effort to attract a female. His display is called 'roding' and these birds are one of the county's most elusive, their display seen by very few. 

This special site, which is owned by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (SWT), is also home to snipe and curlew. Both of which are on the brink of localised extinction. Other special birds such as the lesser redpoll and cuckoo can be spotted here.  

While Gun Moor may appear nature rich on the surface, delve a little deeper and it's a worrying story. Years of historic artificial drainage, and a hotter drier climate, has dried out deep peat and wet heath habitat. The latter is an uncommon habitat in Peak District National Park.    

On World Peatlands Day, Tuesday 2 June, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust announced a new habitat restoration project which will bring the site back to life. Thanks to new Government funding, the charity has been awarded the development phase funding - a grant of £280,000 from a £30 million investment announced by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) recently.  

The funding is part of Defra's efforts to meet the country’s international commitment to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030. It will also go some way to help it hit its legally-binding target to restore more than 50,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042. Funding is dedicated to projects which will restore habitats across England’s National Parks, National Landscapes, and the Broads over the next three years. Helping bring nature back to the places people love most.  

Jeff Sim, Head of Nature Reserves and Species Recovery at SWT, says: 

“Gun Moor is vital to iconic species but it’s in need of significant restoration. Without intervention, we risk losing this habitat and all the wildlife it supports.  

“This investment will enable us to create 24 hectacres of restored habitat. We'll rewet deep peat by blocking ditches and we'll plant moisture capturing mosses to keep water on the moor. Curlew needs areas like this to nest. We’ll restore the wet heath by planting sphagnum mosses, cross-leaved health and bog rosemary along with other specialty plants. New native woodland on the lower slopes of the site will also provide more habitat for rare birds. The lesser redpolls and woodcock rely on dense native woodland and scrub to shelter and feed.”  

 SWT will work with the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) to complete the project. Work is planned to begin on site at the end of summer, once bird nesting season has finished.  

“The habitat at Gun Moor is what makes the Peak District moors internationally significant for wildlife. It's really important that we restore these areas so they can host more struggling nature,” adds Jeff.