Life In The Ravines
Natural England, EU LIFE programmeTackling ash dieback and restoring ravine woodlands in the Peak District.
Chainsaw operator working in the Peak District ravine woodlands to tackle ash dieback
The LIFE in the Ravines partnership project, led by Natural England, tackles the threat that ash dieback poses to the forested river valleys of the Peak District.
Ash dieback is a fast spreading tree disease which causes leaf loss and the crown of ash trees to die, usually resulting in the death of the entire tree. It was discovered in Britain in 2012 and in the Peak District in 2015.
In places ash trees can make up to 99% of the tree cover in the steep sided limestone ravines of the Peak District, so the long term outcome of Ash Dieback being left unattended in that environment would be devastating.
The Peak District ravines would have originally had a more diverse range of tree species. The Life in The Ravines project has been set up to counter the threat of the disease and future-proof these landscapes for years to come by encouraging a return to this diversity.
A strategy of removing dead or dieing Ash trees showing signs of Ash Dieback is being carried out, along side a huge re-planting scheme with additional species of tree. Ash trees showing some resilience to the disease are being retained in the environment.
876 hectares of ravine woodland will be restored within the Peak District Dales Special Area of Conservation.