Abbeystead grouse moor doubles as a flood defence, says BASC

A working Lancashire grouse moor is protecting the villages below it from flooding after a decade of restoration work, BASC says, as it opens the uplands phase of its Four Seasons campaign at Abbeystead. The grouse moor flood defence case study details 855 hectares of restored peatland, more than 500 wader scrapes and 205 leaky dams in the Forest of Bowland.

What has been done at Abbeystead?

Over roughly a decade, estate staff have restored 855 hectares of peatland, with a further 50 hectares planned by 2028, restored 27 hectares of wetland and bog, created or restored five ponds, fenced 3,500 metres of watercourse, planted 1,000 metres of hedgerow and reconnected 717 metres of floodplain. More than 500 scrapes have been dug for breeding waders, with around 100 more planned.

BASC says the combined effect is to slow the flow of water off the fells in storms, holding it on the moor rather than sending it down into the villages of the Wyre catchment.

What difference has it made for waders?

Liam Williams, Abbeystead’s farming and wildlife coordinator, said: “The wetland works have shown immediate results for our waders, with snipe wintering on the sites while work was still underway, and curlew nesting just six weeks after completion.”

Why is BASC telling the story now?

The case study opens the uplands leg of the association’s Four Seasons campaign in the week before the Twelfth, making the argument that gamekeeping, predator control and grouse-moor investment deliver public benefits, from flood protection to wader recovery, that no public scheme currently pays for. The work has run in partnership with the GWCT, the Forest of Bowland National Landscape and the Wyre Rivers Trust.

What happens next?

Restoration continues to 2028, with the remaining 50 hectares of peatland and around 100 further scrapes planned. The full case study is on the BASC website.