Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) | Skiddaw Forest

Skiddaw Forest is a spectacular and remote area of fell, bog and moorland. Covering around 1200 hectares (ha) or 3,000 acres, it includes the three well-known Lakeland summits of Skiddaw, Great Calva and Little Calva, and several smaller ones including Sale How.

The summit of Skiddaw towers over the neighbouring town of Keswick, providing commanding views over Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake, as well as the Newlands and Coledale Fells to the south. Also known as the Back o’Skidda, Skiddaw Forest occupies an extensive ‘bowl’ enclosed by the fells to the west and north of the main summit from which the River Caldew and Dash Beck arise.

This remote landscape is enjoyed by many walkers, runners and cyclists each year. The routes of the Cumbrian Way and the iconic Bob Graham Round across the area.

Skiddaw Forest is a valuable area for wildlife, landscape and geology. It’s already designated as a nationally important Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and recognised as an internationally important Special Area of Conservation (SAC). A number of rare bird and invertebrate species also breed and live here.

Skiddaw Forest holds vast areas of blanket bog which are a great carbon store, helping in the fight against the climate crisis by locking greenhouse gases safely below ground in the peat and out of the atmosphere. The bogs provide excellent habitat for wild species and also slow the flow of flood water, whilst filtering and cleaning the resulting water which flows downstream towards Bassenthwaite and Carlisle.

Habitats on Skiddaw Forest could, however, be far better for wildlife, with many of the typical plants and animals that should be here either missing or present in reduced numbers. The bogs have also been damaged historically by drainage and cutting for fuel.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust will protect and care for this special place in perpetuity. Our vision is for a wilder Skiddaw Forest and England’s highest nature reserve.

The main reason to acquire Skiddaw Forest is to recreate and restore habitats and species as an example of what the Lake District fells could look like if we bring back the missing wildlife.

We aim to create a living and resilient landscape for both people and wildlife. There is huge scope to transform and regenerate wild habitats and wild species alongside the historic landscape in which we also graze livestock, and create and support local jobs (and incomes) to deliver a wide range of ecosystem and environmental services. We want to work closely with local farmers and commoners to identify regenerative farming approaches which will deliver this.

The key opportunities are to:

Create around 667 acres of Atlantic rainforest (native temperate rainforest/broadleaved woodland) of a locally-distinctive and appropriate Lake District character over the next 100 years. Our shared vision, with our partner Aviva, is for trees and scrub to cloak some of the slopes of Skiddaw Forest in a mosaic of habitats where they will blend naturally into the landscape and topography. Learn more about our tree planting plans.

Improve the condition of adjacent heathland and expand the rare and diminished native montane heath and low-lying scrub on the higher slopes of Skiddaw.

Repair and restore the extensive areas of previously-drained peat bogs in the lower lying areas of Skiddaw Forest at places such as Candleseaves Bog and the headwaters of the River Caldew.

Potentially reintroduce native species such as water voles, black grouse, adder and a range of missing montane shrubs, wildflowers and trees into the area. We’ll be using a wide range of native broadleaf trees and scrub such as oak, rowan, aspen, hazel and birch in a manner that is sympathetic to the aesthetics of the landscape.

No. Most of the site isn’t common land and it isn’t grazed by sheep. The fell-going hefted Herdwick flocks that are a priority for the World Heritage Site will not be affected. Our plans for tree-planting are deliberately intended to avoid visually intrusive methods of establishment (no new fences and no tubes) and all the access will be maintained.

No. The main route through Skiddaw Forest is a bridleway and this won’t change. A bridleway can be used by walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders. Skiddaw Forest will remain open for use by people completing the Bob Graham Round.

Skiddaw Forest is open access land in perpetuity and no changes will be made to the opportunities for people to enjoy and visit the area. There will be no entry fees for visitors to visit the nature reserve.

There are no plans for any new fences but we'll repair and maintain the existing boundary fence. This has been present for many decades and is key for the management of livestock both on Skiddaw Forest itself and for our neighbours on the adjacent fells and commons.

Yes, dogs are welcome but we ask that owners walk their pets responsibly at all times to avoid impacts on grazing livestock, ground-nesting birds, wildlife and other users.

Please click here for more information about enjoying our nature reserves with your dog/s. 

No. Domestic livestock has already been largely removed from Skiddaw Forest under a previous agreement with Natural England.

Around one third of Skiddaw Forest is common land and linked to farmsteads. The remainder of the site is not part of a common or hefted flock system and is not linked to a farmsteads. We intend to work with local farmers and commoners to graze livestock on Skiddaw Forest, as we see large animals as a vital part of the natural recovery of the whole site.

Large mammals such as wild boar, deer, ponies and aurochs might have been present naturally in the distant past. These types of animals are an original and natural component of wood pasture and would have broken up the sward and maintained open spaces in the woodland mosaic. Their grazing would have created the conditions for tree regeneration, as can be seen at Wild Ennerdale and places such as Knepp or the New Forest.

It’s not possible to bring back some of the animals that would once have been present here, but we do plan to bring back some of their modern equivalents, where possible and practical.  We would like to consider local native cattle breeds and fell ponies initially – and we may even explore the possibility of pigs on a seasonal basis in the future.  However, there is plan to introduce grazing animals until woodland and scrub habitats have been established.

Thanks to a long-term partnership between The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva, and funding from supporters and charitable trusts, we have secured 80 per cent of the purchase price, which leaves £1.25 million left to raise.

So that we don't miss out on this opportunity, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation has very kindly stepped in and will own 20 per cent of the land until we can raise this shortfall.  There is a limited amount of time to raise the money and you can help to make this happen.

Please support our project with a donation. If you'd like to discuss a donation, please contact us.

No. It remains in private ownership and is leased to the Skiddaw House Foundation, a Charitable Trust, who run it as a simple off-grid independent hostel affiliated to the YHA. The Foundation fully supports Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s purchase of this land and its plans for enhancing this remote and special landscape.

The Atlantic Rainforest Restoration Programme is a £38.9 million programme working in long-term partnership with Aviva running from 2022-2083. It is the first step in a 100-year vision to restore the lost temperate rainforests to the British Isles.

Rainforests of the British Isles are temperate rainforest, which mean they grow in areas that have high rainfall and humidity, and a low annual variation in temperature. They are also known as Atlantic woodland or Celtic rainforest. Less than 1% of our Atlantic rainforests remain.

Securing land for restoring temperate rainforest and helping nature to recover will support many rare species including the wood warbler, redstart, hazel gloves fungus and woodland-dwelling mammals such as pine marten and red squirrel. It will also help nature become abundant once more.

Business has an important role to play in helping nature recover. The landmark Global Biodiversity Framework, a global target to restore 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, expects the private sector to support nature recovery and disclose risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity.

People will reap the benefits of restored rainforest. They will be involved through volunteering and will help implement our vision for Skiddaw Forest.

No, our vision is to create a wilder Skiddaw Forest by restoring natural habitats and healthy ecosystems to a substantial area of wild land for the benefit of both wildlife and people. We are reviving Skiddaw Forest rather than rewilding it.

Rewilding is a word which means many different things to different people and is frequently misrepresented and misunderstood. We’re not trying to turn the clock back to any particular point in time, but we do want to create a mosaic of wildlife-rich habitats and an ecosystem which is ecologically appropriate to the Lake District mountains. The starting point is what we have now.

We want nature to guide the project as the ecosystem slowly evolves over coming decades and we will be responsive to natural changes. But where necessary, we'll intervene as there will sometimes be a need to give nature a helping hand. For example, there is a vital role for grazing livestock in our plans for the future, a need to reverse artificial drainage by blocking drains, a need to introduce missing tree and scrub species, and a need to bring back missing wildlife that otherwise couldn’t get here by itself.

However, our guiding philosophy is to only intervene where necessary and to the absolute minimal extent required to achieve the desired outcomes, and to strictly avoid undesirable impacts on the wider significance and landscape of Skiddaw Forest.

We recognise and respect the significance of the area’s cultural and historic heritage and protecting this special landscape is integral to our plans.

The trees and shrubs on Skiddaw Forest will capture and accumulate carbon as they grow. We'll promote longevity and long-term continuity of the living woodland and there is no intention to fell or remove the trees for sale. The new woodland will therefore become a long-term store of carbon locked up in the organic fabric of the trees, organisms and soil. 

Apart from natural decomposition, wildfires and tree diseases will always pose a threat to the volume of this carbon store, but the diversity of our intended species mix and the rewetting of peat, should provide some resilience to reduce these potential losses.

In partnership with Aviva, we plan to capture over 80,000 tonnes of carbon from 667 acres of native-style woodland over the next 120 years.

Read more about planting trees at Skiddaw Forest

There are also around 1,000 acres of bogs underlain by deep deposits of peat in the bowl of Skiddaw Forest.  These are estimated to contain around 1.25 million tonnes of carbon but they are in declining condition due to historic peat cutting and artificial drainage.

We plan to restore these bogs to protect the existing carbon stores – to keep the carbon in situ and avoid its return into the atmosphere as methane and carbon dioxide. We estimate that this will prevent another 80,000 tonnes of carbon from being released.

We'll be registering the area under woodland creation under the UK Woodland Code standard to verify the carbon stored in the growing trees.  Aviva will own the carbon credits. The peatlands will be registered in the equivalent standard for peat, the Peatland Code, and the carbon credits will be owned by Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

We plan to develop a comprehensive programme of scientific monitoring with our partners from the University of Cumbria so that we can track and demonstrate the environmental changes that occur on Skiddaw Forest over the next 100 years. This will include:

• photographic recording
• aerial drone surveys
• surveying and monitoring the condition of habitats, vegetation and trends in other species
• changes in the levels of carbon storage
• water quality
• landscape and visual change

The Wildlife Trusts have a long history of working alongside people to help nature recover. There will be volunteering opportunities; subscribe to receive our volunteer e-newsletter if you'd like to be involved.

The nature reserve will be accessible to the public, which can improve mental health and wellbeing, encourage physical activity and build stronger communities.