How we are working as a project has had to change quite dramatically over the last few months due to the Covid19 pandemic.

We have been discussing different ways of working as a team to ensure we continue with our project's work plan. As we haven't been able to get out and about on the sites we've been busy planning restoration work for this autumn and winter. We've also been busy finalising contracts / frameworks that we will use when we go out to tender for restoration work. We hope to go out to tender with these at the end of the summer, which will give us enough time to evaluate all the bids and confirm contractors ready for the autumn.

Since last week we have been allowed back on the sites whilst following strict guidelines, this has helped us to complete important monitoring work. We hope restrictions will continue to ease over the coming weeks and months depending on the developing situation with Covid19.

To find out how Natural Resources Wales has been protecting Wales's environment during the Covid19 crisis please click here

The project has been granted an extension by the EU LIFE Fund until March 2023,  it was due to complete in August 2021.

This is good news for the team and means that pressure to complete restoration work in one season has now been alleviated. 

Patrick Green is the projects’ Manager and has been with the project for a year this summer. In a recent blog he explains what the extension will mean for the project, his highlights and challenges so far and his expectations for the future of peatland restoration in Wales.

Our newest assistant – Fleur – joined in March this year, here she explains why she applied for the role of Assistant Project and Monitoring Officer for the project and what she’s looking forward to in her new role.

When I saw the advert for the role of Assistant Project and Monitoring Officer for the New LIFE for Welsh Raised Bogs Project, I was thrilled; finally, a rare opportunity to apply for an exciting conservation job based near my hometown of Aberystwyth!

Although my first day and the following weeks have been less than conventional; working in my make-shift office and frequently being harrassed by my dog, I’ve made the most of it and it’s been an unfortunate but useful opportunity to get myself familiar with the finer details of the project.  

Monkeys, butterflies and blanket bog

As a self-confessed generalist, I’m interested in almost anything involving wildlife, conservation, and the sciences.

I knew from a young age I wanted to study Zoology and in 2018 I graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a first class honours degree, including a sandwich year spent in South Africa studying primates.

After graduating, I worked as an assistant at the Magic of Life Butterfly House Trust in Cwm Rheidol near Aberystwyth, where I was lucky enough to have a “job” taking care of beautiful tropical butterflies, moths, other insects and plants.

However, I wanted to get more practical experience and knowledge in the conservation sector, so in 2019 I spent six months as a residential volunteer at the RSPB Abernethy National Nature Reserve, in the north of Scotland.

I assisted with the various monitoring schemes linked to the habitat restoration work, which meant many lovely days spent out on the reserve, often accompanied by the beautiful backdrop of the Cairngorms.

I also volunteered at the magnificent RSPB Forsinard Flows Reserve, aka The Flow Country, in Caithness and Sutherland, home to the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, covering 200,000 hectares.

Unfortunately, Forsinard has been subjected to historical drainage as well as tree-planting, and I got involved with the restoration work, including tree regeneration removal.

It wasn't until this visit that I had my eyes opened to the true value of peatlands. One simple fact left me dumbfounded; despite covering only 3% of the world’s land surface, all the peatlands combined store over two times more carbon than all the world’s tree’s combined.

I couldn't believe no one was widely talking about this. It was then I became more interested in peatlands and their restoration across the UK.

Exciting times ahead

In a world where we all often feel helpless to make a difference, I feel incredibly lucky to work on a project that is actively benefiting the environment, local communities, and in the context of climate change, the rest of the world too.

I like being active and outdoors, so I’m particularly looking forward to spending long days out on these interesting bogs, conducting biological and climate monitoring, and developing new skills too.

I also look forward to getting to know the local community and (hopefully) getting more people interested in peatlands! Although awareness is increasing, many people still don’t know about peatlands but do care about climate change.

I hope to play a part in encouraging communities to feel empowered and proud to have the work of the project happening right on their doorstep.

To keep up to date with the LIFE Welsh Raised Bogs Project please follow us on Facebook @CyforgorsyddCymruWelshRaisedBogs or Twitter @Welshraisedbog

Here is a LIDAR image (the colourful image) of Cors Fochno raised bog near Borth. The straight line on the left is the Leri River with the large circle of colours in the middle being the actual raised bog.

These types of contour images help us to figure out the height of the land (ie the dips and hills and the steepness or gentleness of slopes. These help us plan our restoration work, specifically where we will be placing low level bunds to help improve natural water levels on the bog.

Also, on this pic you can see straight east to west dark blue lines in the top left corner, the dark blue is low land and shows very deep ditches that were created in the 1960s. These ditches were created by the then landowners to drain the bog and reclaim some of the land for agricultural purposes. The ditches have created mini bogs (small purple circles in colour) in this north west corner.

The influence of domestic peat cutting on the south west corner, green, blue and yellow colours, can also be seen on the map. These colours show the difference in height, yellow signifies a reduction of 50cm in the height of the bog, then blue signifies another 25cm reduction in the height, and the green signifies another 25cm reduction in the height of the bog.

The grid reference image below shows the actual lines of peat cuttings, a bit like razor lines cutting into the bog and peatland.

The 50th anniversary of #EarthDay took place on Wednesday 22 April 2020. This was a day to celebrate our world and to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

This year’s theme was climate action and we wrote a blog about our project and how protecting carbon in our raised bogs is helping in the fight against climate change.

Read the blog in full here.