The apps detail flora and fauna of the moors

Can you tell your curlew from your dunlin? Can you differentiate between Yorkshire fog and sheep’s fescue?

Help is at hand for outdoor fans in a series of free apps to help you identify flora and fauna you’re likely to come across on your moorland walk.

Moors for the Future has created the smartphone apps with details of plants, moss, wildlife and some of the landscape features in four separate categories. The apps, for iPhone and Android, can be downloaded for you to refer to while you’re in the great outdoors.

A spokesperson for the Moors for the Future Partnership MoorLIFE project said the apps are the first moorland-themed identification guides that have been created to help visitors learn about the uniqueness, beauty and importance of the Peak District national park and South Pennine moors.

MoorLIFE project manager Laura King said: “We produced the apps so that people can learn more about the wonderful landscapes that we have worked on to restore to their former glory.

“Thanks to the EU funding we’ve completed conservation works to protect 2,500 hectares of moorland, that will increase the numbers of plants, and sphagnum mosses that you’ll be able to spot out on the moors.

“And we hope that you’ll have more chances to see more wildlife as our works improve these vital habitats.”

MoorMOSS, MoorPLANTS, MoorSIGHTS and MoorWILD have been designed with the Peak District and South Pennines in mind, but will be useful on moorlands across the UK.

The apps have been developed in conjunction with Natural Apptitude, whose director David Kilbey said: “We’re interested in building apps and contributing to projects that both help the environment and enrich people’s experience of it.

“The four apps that we produced with Moors for the Future really met these objectives and provide a fantastic resource for people wanting to learn more about the fascinating and beautiful Peak District national park.”

They will work without a phone signal and help identify and learn about things you come across on the moors.

MoorMOSS looks at sphagnum mosses found in the Peak District and South Pennines. It focuses on the various species of moss, lichen and liverwort you are most likely to see.

MoorPLANTS is a guide to ferns, flowering herbs, shrubs, trees and grasses. The app provides text descriptions and photo galleries to help you identify the interesting plants which are found in the area.

MoorSIGHTS gives you a feel for some of the types of landscape features you are likely to encounter on a walk across the moors.

MoorWILD focuses on the birds, insects, mammals and reptiles found on the moors.
Among the species covered are those that are being surveyed as part of the Moors for the Future Partnership’s Heritage Lottery-funded Community Science Project.

The apps also provide information about the work carried out by the Moors for the Future Partnership within the MoorLIFE project and how that is helping to restore and preserve these moorland habitats which are of European importance.

And if you’re in any doubt, Yorkshire fog, as well as something that might hinder your moorland navigation, is the name of a type of moorland grass.

The apps can be downloaded from the Moors for the Future website.