The North of England is home to some of England’s most dramatic, extensive landscapes, which can support some of our rarest and most special species. This includes the Lake District, North York Moors and some of the England’s best remaining upland river systems.

The upland habitats of England support extensive areas of upland heath as well as diverse mosaics of grasslands and woodlands in river valleys support diverse invertebrate assemblages despite the pressures of intensive land management practices such as sheep grazing. The region’s rivers support nationally important invertebrates both in the river channel and along their banks, such as the last English breeding populations of Freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera), and the national stronghold of the Tansy beetle (Chrysolina graminis), despite suffering from abstraction, damming for electricity production and declining water quality.

Buglife’s work on B-Lines and Important Invertebrate Areas are both helping to target habitat improvements for invertebrates across the region. Previously Buglife have delivered B-Liens projects to help northern populations of pollinators to move across the region and have undertaken dedicated projects to shore up populations of the Tansy beetle by improving management and creating new secure areas of habitat for the beetle.