THE RSPB has called on the Government to do more to protect the Pennine Moors near Keighley to help combat the effects of climate change as it revealed how important they are for storing carbon.

The environmental charity produced a report on World Environment Day which highlighted the upland moors of West Yorkshire as one of Britain’s most important buffers against rising temperatures.

According to its scientists, areas important for nature between Skipton and Hebden Bridge – including the Keighley area – hold 2.5million tonnes of carbon, 2% of England’s total, 2.1m tonnes of that are in moorland and bogs.

They estimate that 9m tonnes of CO2 would be emitted into the atmosphere if the habitats were lost.

A smaller local area, including the Haworth moors towards Hebden Bridge and Lancashire, the Riddlesden and Silsden side of Rombalds/Ilkley Moor, and the higher parts of South Craven, holds one million tonnes of carbon, 0.75% of England’s carbon in nature-rich areas.

The loss of these local habitats – more land, bog, grassland and woodland – would mean 3.7 million tonnes of CO2 being emitted.

Nationally the RSPB’s scientists have estimated that the best places for nature hold over two gigatonnes (two billion tonnes) of carbon, the equivalent of all of the greenhouse gases the UK generates in four years.

It said the nature-rich landscapes it surveyed play a vital role in supporting the UK’s plants and animals and storing carbon. But, scientists are concerned that two-thirds of this carbon is in unprotected locations.

And they say the majority of the Pennine bogs are in poor condition as a consequence of current and historic impacts including atmospheric pollution (largely historic), grazing and vegetation burning.

Concern has been raised recently over the dryness of local moors after major fires burned peat on Ilkley Moor and Marsden Moors.

The country’s largest conservation charity says the public should all be concerned that the poor condition of many of these places – even in protected areas – means they are ‘haemorrhaging carbon’ into the atmosphere, instead of storing it safely in the ground.

In England alone, it is estimated that damaged upland peatlands release the same amount of CO2 into the atmosphere as 140,000 cars annually, instead of continuing to gradually increase their stores of carbon.

The RSPB is urging for the protection and restoration of all these areas, including the ending of burning peat, and is calling on the Government to increase conservation.

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s director for conservation, said: “We need urgent action to protect nature in the UK. Our natural world is in crisis with over half of our species vanishing from our skies, rivers, towns and countryside, and to the tackle the climate crisis we must achieve net-zero carbon emissions in just three decades.

“So, protecting the spaces that are beneficial for both species, wildlife and store carbon seems like an easy win for everyone.

“There is a real opportunity to use these maps to protect the things that are important to us all. And this is the perfect example of a natural solution helping us to save nature and tackle the climate crisis.

“These maps prove that the spaces that are most important for our natural world are also rich in carbon. But they must be protected at a local and national level to succeed in curbing climate change, rather than contributing to it.

“We need politicians across the UK to not just recognise the value of these areas but secure their future by delivering appropriate designated legal protections. Burning peat and other damaging practices must end, and we must to focus on the steps needed to restore and enhance our land for the benefit of our natural world and all of us.”

The RSPB says England has more than 350,000 ha of blanket bog, with the largest area across the Pennines and the North York Moors.

It says there are large areas of both protected and unprotected blanket bog, yet this is overwhelmingly in poor condition, with only 14% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest areas in England in good ecological condition.

It says drainage, heather, overgrazing and other interests all affect both carbon and nature consequences of England’s upland bogs, which drain blocking and bog vegetation restoration can restore to full health and function.

The project began by mapping all of the best places for nature in the UK; the priority habitats for our wildlife and plant life. The RSPB then applied carbon data for each habitat, including the top soil layer. Analysing the plants and just 30cm of topsoil on these areas revealed how much carbon is locked up in the land and vegetation.