Contained within our moorlands and bogs lies one of nature's quiet wonders -England's largest terrestrial carbon store, home to rare wildlife and landscapes of outstanding natural beauty.
Peatlands have a vital role to play in helping us meet our net zero targets, but to restore them at scale, we first need to grow the sector that does that work.
My name is Jordan Timney, and I work in the Peatland Restoration policy team at Defra. Today, I would like to talk about the £1.15 million Peatland Restoration Sector Capacity Grant Scheme, running from 2026 to 2030, to help grow the workforce and infrastructure needed to restore England's peatlands at pace.
Why our peatlands matter
England’s peatlands are a source of outstanding natural beauty and our largest terrestrial carbon store, providing a home for rare wildlife. But, when damaged and degraded (as most of our peatlands are) they emit carbon into the atmosphere, rather than storing it.
Putting our peatlands on the road to recovery locks away carbon, helping the Government meet its net zero targets. We've recently announced a one-year extension to the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, which funds local groups to rewet and restore damaged peatlands. But funding alone isn't enough if the sector doesn't have the capacity to deliver.
Why sector capacity is a missing piece
The Government has a target to restore 280,000 hectares of peatland by 2050, and reaching this will require us to significantly grow the peatland workforce. In 2024, we commissioned a report into the current make-up of the peatland restoration sector, which set out the barriers to scaling up restoration delivery, such as staff retention and lack of access to specialist machinery.
Some local partnerships have already started finding and implementing solutions. The LANTRA accredited Peatland Practitioner Course delivered by Yorkshire Peatland Partnership gives participants the skills needed to carry out peatland restoration, such as surveying and mapping blanket bogs.
What the grant scheme will fund
This grant scheme will award funding to support a range of activities that contribute to the growth of peatland restoration sector in local areas, such as:
- subsidising the cost of specialist machinery
- hosting events in local schools, universities, or the local community
- subsidising apprenticeships or internships
- training courses, where these lead to restoration delivery
- purchase of equipment, such as training simulators
The scheme is open to any organisation involved in peatland restoration. Applicants will need to demonstrate how their proposal meets one or more of the following criteria: increasing the size or skills of the local peatland restoration workforce; attracting new entrants to the sector; attracting private finance; progressing collaboration with other organisations; laying groundwork for future Landscape Recovery delivery; or increasing the amount of peatland restoration able to be delivered.
Grant awards are available up to a maximum of £20,000 per annum, with both single-year and multi-year awards available. Payments will be made in arrears at the end of the financial year.
The scheme will open for applications in the week commencing 8 June this year and remain open throughout June and July, with applicants scheduled to be notified of funding shortly after.
The application window is then scheduled to open again each summer.
Join our webinar
Following the launch of the scheme, we will be hosting a webinar on 16 June to share details of the scheme and answer any questions you may have. You can register for this webinar by emailing the Peatland Restoration team at peatlandrestoration@defra.gov.uk
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