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Government Pledges Up to £3.2m to Restore Fylingdales Moor After Major Wildfire

The funding will repair peat and firebreaks to slow future fires and reduce downstream flood risk.

Overview

  • The government announced on Tuesday that it will provide up to £3.2 million through the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme to the North York Moors National Park Authority for Fylingdales Moor restoration.
  • The grant will pay to repair 17 kilometres of firebreaks, stabilise damaged slopes, re-establish peatland species such as sphagnum moss, and reinstate public rights of way on the moor.
  • The National Park Authority has opened a time‑limited tender process to deliver the work and will combine the government grant with match funding from Anglo American’s Woodsmith, ICL’s Boulby, and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
  • Investigations found the wildfire burned for more than six weeks in August–September 2025 across roughly 20 km², began from a campfire that spread through deep peat, and detonated old military ordnance more than 20 times as it reached a former range.
  • Local leaders say the package leaves farmers, landowners and businesses without central government compensation, prompting MP Alison Hume to press for a statutory wildfire recovery framework and one‑off local support schemes for those affected.