Welsh Government launched the first National Peatlands Action Programme last month (November) to help lock in carbon and reinvigorate vital habitats.

The National Peatlands Action Programme will ensure the nationwide delivery of existing peatland policies devised by the Welsh Government, providing a single set of guidelines and advice for partners and land managers.

Peat is made up of organic carbon which has been trapped in the earth for thousands of years, and it plays a crucial role in naturally trapping and storing carbon.

Find out more and read the Welsh Governments press release in full.

Image credit: Cors Fochno raised bog near Borth, Aberystwyth, by Drew Buckley Photography.

Scientific research over the years has highlighted that a healthy peatland can ‘breathe’ in response to changing water availability.

The ground surface of a bog will track the water level, so that when the weather is dry, and the water levels in the peat drop the peat surface drops.

Then, as it rains and the water levels rise again, the peat surface rises with it. This means that peat at the surface, and the vegetation growing on it, remains wet - even during periods of dry weather.

If peatlands are drained and damaged the peat becomes more compacted. This means that it can no longer ‘breathe’ so easily in response to changing water levels and the water within the peatland can drain away.

Jennifer Williamson from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) is currently leading on work that is monitoring the bog ‘breathing’ and the effects of the restoration work of our project.

Restoration work such as bunding (creating low level banks of peat), ditch blocking, and vegetation clearance is currently under way on several of our project sites.

The monitoring work done by UK CEH, British Geological Survey (BGS) and the University of East London, will seek to find out how the work is affecting water levels and the condition of the raised bogs.

Read her guest blog to find out more.

Image credit: Camera installed to monitor peat surface movement at Cors Caron NNR (Photograph credit Nathan Callaghan UKCEH).

With the growing urgency of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the role for nature-based solutions in mind this conference looked at taking peatland strategy to action.

The conference explored the vital role that healthy peatlands play in society’s adaptability, resilience and recovery as well as sharing progress made towards the UK Peatland Strategy goals.

This year’s IUCN UK Peatland Programme conference ‘Peatlands: From Strategy to Action’ was produced in partnership with the Welsh Peatland Sustainable Management Scheme (SMS) Project.

Watch the session recordings here.

Over this autumn and winter we have contractors out on the west bog at Cors Caron National Nature Reserve (NNR) doing scrub (small tree) removal work.

Although we love trees, they drink 100s of gallons of water a day and on a raised bog that isn’t good news.

Removing the scrub will help to encourage more peat making bog mosses like sphagnum to grow and help us keep the bog wet and spongy.

Images: credit Drew Buckley Photography.

We are currently working on our contribution to the People's Collection Wales.

Our project collection aims to commemorate the histories of communities local to two of our Project sites - Cors Caron (Tregaron) and Cors Fochno (Borth).

We would love to hear your stories and we are also looking for old photographs, videos, sound recordings and other historical records.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at LIFEraisedbogs@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk or on our social media pages Facebook or Twitter.

Photograph credit: Ceredigion Museum

Aimed at KS2/3 educators we’ll be running a virtual course in February to celebrate World Wetlands Day and share activity ideas and information to help you learn about these ancient landscapes.

The training offers attendees increased knowledge of how to use the outdoors as a context for learning, as well as increased confidence in how to deliver across the Curriculum for Wales 6 AoLE’s through the topic of peatlands.

Dates:

2^nd February 2021, 4.15 – 5.30 pm the session will be delivered through the medium of English on Microsoft Teams

4^th February 2021, 4.15 – 5.30 pm the session will be delivered through the medium of Welsh on Microsoft Teams

To book please visit the Tocyn Cymru website.