Mary Creagh MP announces £47m funding boost for English peatlands

Mary Creagh MP at Landybower reservoir in Derbyshire

Following London Climate Action Week, Mary Creagh MP, Nature Minister, launched a £47 million funding boost to protect and manage thousands of hectares of vital peatland.

80% of England’s peatlands are in a dry and degraded state. Restoring them can help reduce carbon emissions, protect rural communities from the risks of wildfire and flooding, and supports local economies. 

The funding will be applied to three different schemes across England’s peatlands. This includes a grant for local water projects that raise and manages water tables, funding for research on growing crops in wetter peat soils, purchasing training equipment, and increasing community engagement to build the workforce needed to deliver peatland restoration.

This funding is part of the wider 2026–2030 Peat Programme announced in the Environmental Improvement Plan, worth around £85 million. This helps to meet the Government’s target of restoring 280,000 hectares of peatland by 2050.

Mary Creagh MP said:

"Peatlands are as vital to the UK as the Amazon rainforest is to Brazil, but too many of them are degraded and releasing carbon rather than locking it in.  

“These new grants will support better water management on farms, new types of wetter farming, or upskilling local people to restore peatland.”