18 June, 2015
Peatland Action receives extra £3million
An ambitious project which has helped drive major restorative works at 100 peatland sites has received an extra £3million funding, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) confirmed today.
The Peatland Action Project is an SNH-led initiative.
And the funding from the Scottish Government is a boost to the £5million already invested in helping preserve our valuable peatlands.
It will enable SNH to continue this work with partners including National Park Authorities; Forest Enterprise Scotland; RSPB, SWT, Moorland Forum; Scottish Water; IUCN; Tweed Forum, and the Crichton Carbon Centre.
SNH is the main advisor to the Scottish Government on peatland restoration and was originally allocated £5 million to fund:
- Restoring and managing peatlands to maintain carbon stores and encourage carbon capture;
- Building peatland restoration capacity and understanding amongst land managers, contractors, advisors and the public.
A total area of 5580 hectares (21 square miles) has seen restoration at locations across Scotland including exposed upland blanket peat, forest to bog conversion, and lowland bogs close to urban areas and farmland.
Peatland Action has also funded monitoring and surveys which include more than 148 square miles (38,360 hectares) to help pave the way for future peatland restoration.
Andrew McBride, SNH’s Peatland Action project manager, said: “We need healthy peatlands far more than you might think. Restoring peatlands reduces carbon emissions, and healthy peatlands provide a wealth of benefits to people.
“They help regulate water flows by regulating and slowing run-off during heavy rainfall events. This reduces downstream flooding. But they also maintain base flows in our upland streams during drought.
“And we know that water flowing through healthy peatlands supports drinking water sources, industry and fisheries. Land managers who have worked with us to restore their peatlands have found that the restoration does not only visually improve the landscape but also has additional benefits to access and fisheries.
“So now we have a further opportunity for land managers to do more peatland restoration this year. And healthy peatlands are vital to our health and well-being, our economy, our rural sector, and indeed our urban centres. We need peatlands to be fully fit and functioning to provide the base for those vital life services.”
Peatland Action has also worked closely with the forestry sector across Scotland. More than 1000 hectares of peat bog habitat either restored (trees cut down, drains blocked) or enhanced (drain blocking only on existing open ground) by Forest Enterprise Scotland.
This work has been carried out at 24 sites managed by teams from five forest districts: Galloway, North Highland, Scottish lowlands, Tay, and West Argyll
Andrew Jarrott, environment manager, Forest Enterprise Scotland, Galloway Forest District, said: “The Peatland Action Fund has really helped us deliver landscape scale improvements to our peatland habitats.
“The scale of work enabled by this fund has contributed significantly to help us achieve our biodiversity, landscape and ecosystem services objectives in Galloway Forest District.”
The project has also overcome winter weather-related issues on upland sites to complete peat hag reprofiling and reduce gully erosion in mountains.
On grouse moors, peatland restoration and the associated improvement to the habitat quality can improve food availability for grouse – potentially boosting land value.
The project contributes to the objectives of Scotland’s National Peatland Plan, due for launch early this summer.
New Peatland Action technical videos are set to be showcased at the Royal Highland Show at the SEARS tent and Mr McBride is happy to speak to anyone about peatlands and the new grant scheme for this year.
Land managers interested in peatland restoration can find further information about the grant scheme at http://www.snh.gov.uk/climate-change/taking-action/carbon-management/peatland-action/information-for-applicants/
Applications are invited between 22 June and 17 August and will be assessed on a first come first served basis. Land managers are Peatland Action Project Officers based around the country, are available to offer restoration advice. More advice at
Peatland Action has demonstrated well-managed peatland restoration work is compatible with agricultural activities – in places it can improve grazing, access and land stability.
The project funded restoration of large upland sites in the Cairngorms area; Glenmullie, Tomintoul, and Inshriach. The Inshriach site had many areas of bare peat. Restoration focused on remedies for these to prevent further degradation of the peat surface.
Areas of bare peat were covered by spreading a brash or ‘mulch’ of sphagnum mosses to protect vulnerable bare soil from further erosion, help hold water on the site, and to encourage bog vegetation to re-grow.
It is the first time this technique has been used in Scotland. Early results look promising.
At Glenmullie peat hags were reprofiled and protected from the elements by using a machine to reduce the gradient of the exposed face then covered with turves of peat.
Contact information
- Name
- SNH Media
- snhmedia@snh.gov.uk
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