What is the Wild Peak?
The Wild Peak is an ambitious rewilding initiative led by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust that includes all of the Peak District that falls within the Derbyshire boundary as well as an urban connection zone. The Wild Peak is building a network of places, people, and projects that are working together to implement a landscape-scale, nature-led approach to nature’s recovery.
People and communities are at the heart of the Wild Peak project - rewilding doesn’t mean removing people from nature but instead connecting them with it. We value people making space for nature at any scale – from the small things we do in our back gardens or community spaces, to the large-scale restoration of our uplands.
Whether you are a landowner, a business, a community group or just an interested individual, you can get involved! The Wild Peak team at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust can support you on your rewilding journey by connecting you with others in our network and working with you to explore options for funding.
Take a look at our Wild Peak so far....
Let us tell you a little more...
Wild Peak Vision
The Wild Peak is a place where wildlife is thriving and extending into our surrounding towns and cities. Where ospreys soar overhead; and black grouse and hen harriers are back where they belong. Our wildflower meadows sing with insects, bees and butterflies, and our blanket bogs suck in our rain and contribute as a carbon sink. Native woodlands are re-generating and expanding, teeming with pine martens, adders and red squirrels. Beavers are effectively managing our wetlands. It’s a dynamic place, valued by and benefitting society, locally, nationally and internationally.
Please see below for our fully detailed Wild Peak Vision:
Wild Peak Goals
By February 2026 Wild Peak will have supported at least 30% of its network members to secure funding for rewilding.
A pipeline of projects within the Wild Peak programme will secure funding for activities that support landowners, including habitat interventions, access to green finance markets and community support.
By 2030 30% of the Wild Peak region will be managed in a wilder way.
Habitats will be suitable for more ambitious species reintroduction projects, woodlands will be joining together with scrublands, heathland, parkland and diverse hedgerows and more partners will be delivering ecosystem services benefits to communities. More partners will be working with nature to deliver ecosystem services all of which will bring huge benefits to our communities. Tourists will be starting to visit the region not just for its scenery but for its wildlife spectacles. Local community groups will be protecting and restoring wildlife, forming networks that grow our resilience for a Wilder Peak.
By 2050 the Wild Peak region is merging with other similar initiatives across the country.
Wild Peak has become self-sustaining, and as a society we have all come to intrinsically value our landscape for the good it provides both economically and socially. A nature led approach has become the norm with natural floodplains preventing floods, an increase in trees cleaning our air, healthy bogs storing more carbon. We will have complex ecosystems forming, with a whole range of lost species coming back like Wild Cat, Pine Marten, Osprey, Golden Eagle and Salmon.
What is Rewilding?
When we leave nature undisturbed, ’rewilding’ happens, and habitat development follows its own, wonderfully unpredictable course. Rewilding seeks to reinstate natural processes and, where appropriate, missing species - allowing them to shape the landscape and the habitats within. Find out more about rewilding below:
Farming for people and nature
We worked with the Natural History Museum to create a series of videos about rewilding.
We were delighted to invite them to come and discuss our Wild Peak project and how we are supporting farmers across the Peak District to make their farms more resilient whilst also tackling climate change.
Take a closer look at what farmers and landowners are getting up to in their episode of Field Studies:
NHM Wild Peak (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rna4Gft2QFE)
Natural History Museum
