Bradford Pennine Gateway National Nature Reserve

Bradford Pennine Gateway is one of the new King’s Series of National Nature Reserves. It is the first in West Yorkshire.

• Size and scope: The reserve encompasses 1,274 hectares, with 738 hectares (58%) designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
• Habitat Protection: Approximately 90% of the area comprises UK priority habitats, including peat bogs, heathlands, and wetlands
• Biodiversity: Over 70 Biodiversity Action Plan species have been recorded, including curlew, golden plover, short eared owls, and adders, underscoring the reserve’s ecological significance
• New Protected Areas: 42% of the reserve will be newly protected, contributing to national conservation efforts.

Bradford Pennine Gateway is one of only a small number in the King’s Series to be in such close proximity to a city. The NNR covers eight ecologically connected sites across an extensive urban-fringe landscape.

• The King’s Series of NNRs, the first of which was declared in 2023, in honour of His Majesty The King’s Coronation, is a commitment made through the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan to declare 25 significant new National Nature Reserves over a 5-year period in recognition of His Majesty’s longstanding passion for the natural environment. This is the most significant expansion of the NNR series in a generation.
• The declaration of the Bradford Pennine Gateway National Nature Reserve is a huge step for Nature recovery, not just in Yorkshire but the country as a whole. This breathtaking landscape of heaths, hills meadows and peat is of great national importance and sustains a huge variety of wildlife.
• The sites include Ilkley Moor, Baildon Moor, Shipley Glen, Trench Meadows, St Ives Estate, Harden Moor, Bingley Bog North, and Penistone
  Country Park.
• The NNR will form a core hub for nature recovery in Bradford that will spill over into surrounding areas.
• Creating this new National Nature Reserve will be a step along the road of enhancing the biodiversity of the Bradford Pennine Gateway– making it a
  bigger, better and more joined up place for wildlife to thrive.
• The reserve is particularly significant for residents of Bradford, who were amongst the most remote from their nearest NNR in England. The establishment of this reserve will bridge this gap, providing communities with enhanced opportunities to connect with nature and improve health and wellbeing.
• Bringing these sites together under the banner of one NNR will aid nature recovery across and beyond these sites. Sustainable growth is vital – so is
  nature recovery, because you cannot have one without the other.
• Following the NNR declaration, Bradford Council and Natural England will work together in partnership to create a strategic management plan for all sites which would better inform the existing site-based plans and set them in a wider and more ambitious context.
• This NNR will facilitate a landscape management approach for these sites and the wider area. Enhanced nature across the NNR sites (and the wider
  network) will provide bigger, better and more joined up nature across the district.
• Growth will be even better for people if it’s Nature positive. Nature is a powerful tool with multiple benefits to break down barriers to opportunity and build sustainable growth for future generations
• The reserve will also enhance educational and cultural opportunities in the area. In collaboration with local universities and colleges, the reserve will offer opportunities for field studies and research.
• Aligning with Bradford’s designation as the UK City of Culture 2025, the reserve integrates cultural heritage with conservation efforts. Natural England, in collaboration with Bradford Council, will create a public engagement strategy to increase the diversity of visitors and encourage positive action for nature across Bradford.

WILD UPLANDS

• Natural England are proud partners of the Wild Uplands programme.
• Penistone Hill Country Park (one of the sites within the new National Nature Reserve) will host “Wild Uplands,” a major new open-air art installation as part of Bradford’s UK City of Culture 2025 celebrations. The installation, running from May 24 to October 12, 2025, features new artworks by four artists: Monira Al Qadiri, Meherunnisa Asad with Studio Lél, Vanessa da Silva, and Steve Messam.
• The artworks are inspired by the natural landscape, industrial heritage, and the potential future of the area in light of the climate crisis. https://bradford2025.co.uk/programme/wild-uplands/

WHAT IS A NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE?

• National Nature Reserve status is given to the very best nature conservation sites in England and is recognition that the land is nationally important and will be managed in perpetuity for its wildlife and geology.
• National Nature Reserves were established under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 to protect some of our most important
  habitats, species and geology and additionally provide ‘outdoor laboratories’ for research. They inspire local communities, visitors, partners and
  stakeholders alike to connect with nature and contribute to nature’s recovery.
• They are places where protecting wildlife goes hand in hand with learning, understanding and enjoyment, whilst offering great opportunities for people to experience wildlife at first hand and to learn more about nature conservation.