Natural England said it was hoped the new national nature reserve status would help to “improve people’s access to nature, create opportunities for learning and recreation and support the local economy through sustainable farming”.
The moors also serve a community living in the one of Cornwall’s most rurally deprived areas.
Nature Minister Mary Creagh said: “The Mid Cornwall Moors is a truly special landscape, shaped by thousands of years of history and home to some of England’s rarest wildlife.
“Combining this rich patchwork of habitats as a National Nature Reserve will protect this unique place and provide better access to nature for the people who live alongside it and a boost to everyone who visits.”
The reserve combines land managed for nature and heritage by Natural England, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Heritage Trust, the Gaia Trust and Imerys.
It also includes land designated as the Mid Cornwall Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest, meaning an area recognised as being ecologically important.