Conservation

Heather moorland is a semi-natural habitat. This means it has evolved in reaction to natural and human influences, but has not been directly created, for example like a sown grass field. It is of immense value for landscape, historical and wildlife conservation and associated recreation.

Heather moorland is rarer than rainforest and 75% of it is found in Britain. Moorland managed for red grouse forms one of the largest protected and precious kinds of habitats in England.

Over 90% of English grouse moors fall within a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or carry a conservation designation.

European designations carry the strictest conservation codes and 49% of grouse moors are designated as EU Special Protection Areas for the rare birds they support and 49% as Special Areas of Conservation due to the plant species. Nationally 66% of grouse moors are protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and 45% of grouse moors carry all three - making them one of the country's most important habitat types.

Landscape

The brooding moor of television and film fame is designed to conjure a frightening image. In truth, the splendour of the purple-cloaked hillsides of summer is one of the most loved spectacles of the countryside. These wide sweeps of open moor bring immense pleasure and a feeling of freedom and remoteness in a crowded and busy world.

History/archaeology

With little disturbance of the moorland soils in modern times, the face of the moors still bears the signs of our ancestors. In the lowlands, most of these details have been destroyed over the centuries. From mysterious pre-historic burial grounds and remote monastic paths to past mining activity and the signs of present day traditional uses, the moors are a living history book and a direct link with the lives of different peoples over the centuries.