Welcome to the
North Pennines National Landscape

This is one of England’s most special places: a stunning landscape of open heather moors and peatlands, attractive dales and hay meadows, tumbling upland rivers, wonderful woods, welcoming communities, intriguing imprints of a mining and industrial past, distinctive birds, animals and plants and much, much more.

The North Pennines National Landscape is also designated as a UNESCO Global Geopark, in recognition of world-class earth heritage shared through education, interpretation and visitor information.

The North Pennines National Landscape team works to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area. We focus on nature recovery and helping people to make an emotional connection with nature. Find out what we do

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A UNESCO
Global Geopark

One of 9 in the UK

UNESCO Global Geoparks are places where outstanding geological heritage is used to support sustainable development, through conservation, education, interpretation and nature tourism. Within the Global Geoparks Network, Geopark staff and partners collaborate to share ideas, raise funds, promote each others’ areas and carry out projects. The North Pennines has been a Global Geopark since 2003, and the initiative became a full programme of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in 2015.

Read more about UNESCO

Seed collecting in flower-rich verges across the North Pennines National Landscape

Did you know?

  • We have over 300 active volunteers

  • Every year we engage 1000+ school children in conservation activities

  • 40% of the UK's species-rich upland hay meadows are in the North Pennines

  • On 22 November 2023 our AONBs became National Landscapes

  • We've restored an area of peatland 4 times the size of Newcastle

  • We restored 273ha of grassland through our Nectarworks project

  • The North Pennines National Landscape has 16 Dark Sky Discovery sites

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