Upper Teesdale project to collect and replant seeds from rare alpine plants

What you need to know

• Seed collection is conditional on there being populations large enough to supply seed. The project will then grow plug plants and trial planting them on the fell in management trial plots. 1
• Mapping rare plants is another planned strand of work. Volunteers are also to receive training as part of the project. 1
• The funding award is conditional on the Trust providing £15,000 in supporting funds over three years. The announcement does not confirm whether that contribution has been secured. 1
• An evaluation of the earlier Plants on the Edge project described declines among Teesdale’s special flora. It identified climate change, air pollution, eutrophication, land-management changes and recreational pressure as threats. 2
• The new award sets out an intervention, not evidence of improved plant populations. Establishment of the planted material and any longer-term effects remain to be assessed. 1

Why this matters

Moor House–Upper Teesdale is recognised as an important refuge for relict arctic-alpine plants, including spring gentian and bird’s-eye primrose. The project targets flora in an area where an earlier evaluation reported declines and multiple pressures. 23

What happens next

The Trust and its partners are expected to carry out the planned collection, mapping, propagation and trial planting over three years. The announcement does not specify which species or plots will be prioritised, or how the planting trials will be monitored. 1

What we know

• The work is centred on Upper Teesdale and involves the Trust and the North Pennines National Landscape team. 1
• JNCC identifies Moor House–Upper Teesdale as an important refuge for relict arctic-alpine plants, including spring gentian and bird’s-eye primrose. 3
• The National Landscape announcement gives different figures for plants of conservation concern: over 100 species in the Trust’s special flora and over 170 in a later reference to the arctic-alpine assemblage. It does not explain how these counts relate. 1

What we don't know

• It is not clear from the announcement whether the Trust has secured the £15,000 supporting funds required by the award. 1
• The announcement does not identify which species and trial plots will be prioritised for collection and planting. 1
• No monitoring approach or measures of seedling establishment and longer-term population effects are specified in the announcement. 1
• The relationship between the two species counts in the announcement remains unexplained. 1

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