NCF: Paludiculture Exploration Fund - Lancashire WT (360G-cabinetoffice-G2-GA-2023101075995-24-25)

The Northern Lowland Peatland Coalitions (NLPC) vision is to bring about a urgent step change in protecting and restoring Englands lowland peatlands in the north of England and develop a sustainable model for acquiring, restoring and sustainably managing lowland peat using opportunities of carbon funding, biodiversity net gain (BNG) and other nature based solutions.Chat Moss is a lowland raised bog within the NLPC region, formed after the last ice age. Once covering over 28km2 most of this bog has been cut and drained for agriculture with only a few fragments remaining. These include the designated sites Astley and Bedford Mosses.The vision for this area is to link these fragments, delivering a landscape of lowland raised bog priority habitats buffered by a mosaic of habitats including productive paludiculture fields. Delivering carbon and biodiversity for society whilst providing an income for landowners through economically viable paludiculture systems.