NR3 go to the Lake District

Samuel Joyce, 5th January 2026

I’m in the first cohort of students studying MSc. Nature Restoration, Recovery and Rewilding at the University of Manchester. Last month we went on a residential field trip, visiting nature positive projects in the Lake District National Park. We went to see and learn from organisations delivering nature recovery at a landscape scale, and to put the first semester’s learning into a place-based context. It rained almost non-stop, but we weren’t put off, and we came back to Manchester full of new ideas.

On Day 1, we stopped off at Lake Windermere for a walk with staff from the National Park, as well as a partnership organisation sourcing private finance investment into protected landscapes. Lake Windermere has received sustained media attention for its poor water quality, especially in the summer, with a report from the Freshwater Biological association highlighting high Escherichia coli levels during the summer, and phosphorus levels causing Autumn algal blooms (Harper, 2024).

We learnt about the work the National Park was doing to engage with land managers and septic tank owners to improve their practices through the ‘Love Windermere’ programme. National Parks, with their deep place-based connections have an important role in convening different organisations to carry out nature recovery at scale. We also spoke to the National Parks Partnership about their work with private finance company Palladium. The partnership is funding riparian tree planting, which can improve water quality (Ramião et al, 2020) by selling ‘carbon plus’ credits (high-integrity carbon credits that go beyond simply reducing or removing a tonne of CO2) to private investors.

Figure 1 Left. Roman ruins in Borran’s Park. The Lake District is a cultural landscape with a rich history which has been shaped by farming, industry and conservation – and has been recognised as such by UNESCO. Centre. Knarled oak trees (Quercus robur) on these rocks gave an eery character to the site. We enjoyed climbing these in the thin drizzle. Right. Alice Collier talks about the role the National Park plays in bringing together partners to deliver for nature. She seemed a real expert in the Lake District’s communities, and I was struck by the different asks that were being made of a National Park with such diverse objectives.

The next day we were in the far Western lakes, visiting the remote and rugged Wild Ennerdale project. This whole catchment scale wilding project is taking an innovative approach, focusing on restoring natural function to an upland area traditionally dominated by conifer plantations. They are replacing conifers with native broadleaves trees, and introducing pigs to create disturbance in the landscape. Possible future species reintroductions were also discussed.

Staff from United Utilities told us about recent storms in the lakes, and how Ennerdale has been relatively unaffected by flooding, in part because of its complex forest ecosystem (Micklewright et al, 2025). I was amazed by the incredible diversity of bryophytes on the forest floor, and how the wildness of the river in spate, dictated how we moved through the landscape.

Figure 2 Left. Water flows across a moss rich understory, creating ‘gin clear’ pools below. Everyone on the visit was amazed by the purity of the water at Ennerdale. Right. Sphagnum moss. I was amazed by the abundance and diversity of sphagnum species on site.

Our final day was split in two, hosted by Cumbria Connect and partners, one of the largest landscape scale nature recovery programmes in the UK (at 42,000 hectares), funded through private finance (Arcadia) via the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. In the morning, we had a workshop on stakeholder engagement, where we examined a breach of the River Lowther in 2024, as a case study in how participatory action is needed to reach a consensus over potential solutions, whilst incorporating nature restoration. We learnt about the importance of looking at all options for recovery with the local community, rather than taking a predetermined view.

In the afternoon, we visited an upland hill farm where nature friendly actions were being undertaken as part of the Penrith to Kendal Landscape Recovery Project. Speaking to a local farmer, it was clear they had a deep pride in the cultural heritage of upland sheep farming, in particular hefting and stratification (Mansfield, 2015) and that concerns about rewilding in this context need to be listened to.

Figure 3 Left. Students speak to an upland farmer about her pride in traditional farming practices such as hefting sheep, where sheep do not need fences on the common and instinctively know where to go. She is concerned the unique generational knowledge of these animals would be lost if the practice was the end. Right. Some of the nature restoration actions on the same farm (wetland creation and tree planting).

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References

Harper, D. L. R. (n.d.) ‘The State of Windermere in 2024.’

Mansfield, L. (2015) ‘Upland Farming Systems and Wilding Landscapes: A Cumbrian example.’

Micklewright, E., Speight, L. and Webb, S. (2025) ‘Rewilding as a Mechanism for Natural Flood Management in Upland Peaty Catchments in the Lake District.’ Ecohydrology, 18(7) p. e70119.

Ramião, J. P., Cássio, F. and Pascoal, C. (2020) ‘Riparian land use and stream habitat regulate water quality.’ Limnologica, 82, May, p. 125762.