MORE than 17,000 hectares of peatland have been restored in North Yorkshire – the equivalent of about 10,000 football pitches.

Peatland has an important ecological role in storing carbon, holding rainwater and supporting a wide range of wildlife.

Draining peat bogs has released carbon into the atmosphere that has remained locked into the ecosystem for thousands of years. Recently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature called for one million hectares of the UK’s peat bogs to be protected or restored by 2020 to slow global warming.

The Yorkshire Peat Partnership, which was set up to conserve Yorkshire’s upland peat resource, has announced it has restored 17,000 hectares of peatland and is well on track to reach its target of 35,000 hectares by 2017.

The announcement has come as the partnership marks its fifth birthday.

Programme manager Tim Thom said: “At current estimates 17,000ha of peatland has been restored which puts us well on the way to achieving our project target of restoring 50 per cent (35,000ha) of the damaged peat in Yorkshire by 2017.

“I am immensely proud of this project and of people who made it all possible and would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication.’’