The Northumberland Peat Partnership (NPP) has hit a huge milestone. The charity have announced that they have now surveyed more than 10,000 hectares of peatland across Northumberland.

Formed as a partnership in 2022, the five-person team has utilised GIS, remote sensing, and drone imaging to conduct surveys stretching from Holburn Moss and The Cheviots in the north to The Wou in the south.

Landscapes such as the Border Mires, Kielderhead Moor and Whitelee Moor have also been explored.

The conditions of the surveyed sites wildly differ from blanket bogs to basin mires with the heaviest grazing locations holding a bare peat presence which influences vegetation growth.

In one instance, a peat depth was measured up to 10m below the surface.

The project has yielded an impressive 82 bog-specific species including various sphagnums, round-leaved sundew, cross-leaved heath, hare’s tail cotton-grass, heather, bog cranberry and bog rosemary.

The NPP's efforts are set to inform restoration plans to attract future funding.

Alex Robinson, Northumberland peat partnership engagement officer, said: "It’s an incredible achievement that has been reached in little over three years with part of it during the tail end of Covid."

Members of the public can sign up to become peat inspectors via www.wildlifetrusts.org/ban-sale-peat.