Wild Ingleborough

Launched in the summer of 2021, Wild Ingleborough is a multi-partner, landscape-scale conservation project creating a wilder future for this part of the Yorkshire Dales. Building on decades of work by Natural England and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the project aims to combat the impacts of the climate crisis by aiding nature’s recovery across this large upland area.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world. This is reflected in the Yorkshire Dales, where there is very little native woodland and natural habitat is restricted to isolated fragments. Working with local communities, Wild Ingleborough is restoring land from the valley floor to the mountaintop, reconnecting habitat patches to allow wildlife to move more freely in the landscape.

Managing the landscape for nature’s recovery

Wild Ingleborough takes in around 1200ha of land on the Ribblesdale and Chapel-le-Dale slopes of Ingleborough, comprised of eight Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves and the larger Ingleborough National Nature Reserve managed by Natural England. 

The project works across the landscape to restore valuable habitats such as limestone grassland, blanket bog and native mixed woodland so that a greater diversity of species can thrive here and natural processes can be restored. To achieve this, Wild Ingleborough uses a variety of approaches: 

• Extensive cattle grazing to promote wildflowers and natural regeneration of trees and scrub
• Planting mixed native trees in sheltered ghylls and gullies, which will provide habitat for wildlife and a seed source for future natural regeneration
• Restoration of blanket bog through blocking drainage channels and reprofiling peat hags 
• Propagation of rare and specialist upland wildflower and shrub species (such as purple saxifrage, spiked speedwell and creeping willow), which, due to historic overgrazing, have been widely lost to all but the most inaccessible rocky crags

Rare and fragile habitats

Ingleborough is home to an amazing mix of internationally important habitats including:

• Limestone grassland – hosts a community of highly specialised plant species, some of which are only found in this part of the world
• Limestone pavement – an iconic feature of our landscape. As well as being of geological interest, the ​“grykes” (fissures) are a safe place for vulnerable plants, such as hart’s tongue fern
• Blanket Bog – deep peat – covers a large area of Ingleborough. Aside from being an amazing place for specialist bog plants like Sphagnum mosses, it is one of our best tools with which to combat climate change. Healthy blanket bog can sequester a huge amount of carbon and store it below ground, but when damaged releases large amounts of carbon back into the atmosphere contributing to climate warming.

Vulnerable bird species 

The habitats that are being restored at Wild Ingleborough could help support some red-listed birds, identified as vulnerable due to their declining populations. These species include:

• Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix – thrives on scrubby moorland, where it feeds on the berries, buds and shoots of young trees
• Curlew Numenius arquata – a summer visitor that breeds on rough grassland, moors and bogs.
• Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus – a ground-nesting relative of the blackbird, ring ouzels require a mix of upland habitats to flourish

Species recovery programme 

The distribution of many of our important and nationally rare plants is so fragmented, that Wild Ingleborough gives them a helping hand to recover. Their species recovery programme is helping to boost the populations of rare wildflowers, ferns and montane tree species.

Our Community 

The community is at the heart of everything Wild Ingleborough does. People from the local area and beyond can get involved in various ways:

• Volunteers are central to Wild Ingleborough and everyone is welcome to join them on a Practical Conservation Day – no prior knowledge or experience is required. Volunteers have already planted thousands of trees, undertaken survey work, run sessions at public events and helped maintain traditional dry stone walls. Volunteering is an opportunity to learn new skills, meet others who are passionate about nature and make a lasting contribution to one of the UK’s most well-loved landscapes.
• They host school and educational visits and offer curriculum-linked sessions for KS1 and 2. Children from local primary schools have achieved a John Muir Award through their work with Wild Ingleborough, recognising that they have helped to protect and care for a local wild place.
• Wild Ingleborough’s Access Fund provides small grants to help groups in the community experience their corner of the Dales. Between 2022 and 2023 they awarded 18 grants to diverse groups, including young carers, disability support groups, schools and community groups. 
• Seasonal guided walks allow local people to learn about the different aspects of the landscape, such as archaeology, botany or Yorkshire’s temperate rainforests.

Monitoring and Research

As a partner of Wild Ingleborough, the University of Leeds employs two research assistants who monitor the progress of the project through the collection and analysis of environmental data. This data is gathered through a variety of surveys, ranging from bird and butterfly counts to tree survival, vegetation assessments and studies on soil properties. 

As Wild Ingleborough is a fairly novel nature recovery project in the UK uplands, the university hopes to provide insight into how the landscape responds to recovery actions, such as removing intensive sheep grazing. Over time the analysis of landscape changes could be used to inform future nature recovery projects in the UK uplands. 

Citizen Science

The public is encouraged to get involved in data collection for Wild Ingleborough. The project has dedicated, skilled volunteers who carry out surveys on their behalf, and all visitors to the area can log their wildlife observations on Wild Ingleborough’siNaturalist project.