The North Pennines National Landscape Management Plan 2026-31 commits Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, County Durham, and Northumberland councils to climate readiness initiatives.
Previously designated as areas of outstanding natural beauty, the North Pennines encompasses woods, dales, heather moors, and High Force, which is among England’s highest waterfalls.
The North Pennines National Landscape organisation is mainly funded by the government and other charitable organisations. Preparing for warmer, wetter winters alongside hotter, drier summers stood out as a key priority within the management plan it unveiled last month.
Officials noted that upland regions face severe risks from environmental shifts. High-altitude terrain is particularly susceptible to climate change impacts driven by shifting precipitation cycles, higher temperatures, and a greater number of extreme weather occurrences, according to the group.
The strategy focuses heavily on safeguarding carbon-rich peat soils and protecting existing woodlands. According to landscape authorities, this mitigation work helps safeguard upland ecosystems and also supports downstream communities by improving water quality and reducing flooding. Efforts to make the North Pennines as ready as feasible for impending climate hurdles involved reviving peatland to mitigate flood risks and supplying agricultural workers with drone technology and other wildfire suppression tools.
Wildfire prevention forms another core pillar of the new policy. Raby Estates, one of the area’s largest land managers, said it worked with the North Pennines National Landscape on wildfire prevention measures including managing its farmers’ fuel loads and providing firefighting equipment.
Woodley-Stewart stated that you can’t make people come to the countryside and invest in the local economy, but you can help to create circumstances in which they feel this landscape is for everybody. He emphasized that the five-year plan would guide the policy of the local authorities but would not be compulsory.