|
|
Welcome to Issue #15 of the New LIFE for Welsh Raised Bogs Project Newsletter. In this issue we will share project success stories with you and the work we're doing across Wales.
|
|
From 4-6 October the Aberystwyth Arts Centre took on a distinctly peaty vibe as it hosted the 2022 IUCN Peatland Conference.
The Conference also acted as our ‘End of Project Conference’ and allowed us to discuss our restoration methods, lessons learnt and effectiveness, as well as sharing monitoring data that has been gathered over the duration of the project and its response to the restoration work.
Highlights from the conference are listed below:
- Claire Pillman, Natural Resources Wales Chief Executive addressed the conference and called on the Welsh Government to commit to banning the sale of peat products in Wales from 2024. Good news followed this month as Welsh Government announced that this would happen, read the press release in full here Retail sale of peat in horticulture in Wales to end | GOV.WALES)
- Julie James, Minister for Climate Change, welcomed delegates to the conference and spoke about the importance of peatlands. This followed the announcement by Welsh Government that it had tripled its peatland restoration commitments. Read the announcement in full here Biodiversity Deep Dive prompts Welsh Government to triple peatland restoration in nature recovery promise | GOV.WALES
- Director of IUCN Emma Goodyer delivered an update on the UK Peatland Strategy and highlighted the economic opportunities which are available from peatland investment.
- Regional updates from England, Northern Ireland and Scotland were also shared
- Last but not least, Dr Peter Jones from Natural Resources Wales highlighted the new National Peatland Action Programme and its restoration work so far
- Day 2 of the conference allowed delegates to see some of the exciting restoration work taking place on the ground in Wales, Cors Caron National Nature Reserve (NNR), Cors Fochno and Carmel were among the sites visited.
- Day 3 was comprised of various workshops on topics such as peat bunding, monitoring peatlands, scaling up delivery and forest to bog restoration.
Thank you to all who attended, and we hope to see our #peatlandfamily at the next conference!
|
|
|
|
7 hectares (17 acres) of scrub cleared - this was mainly willow and birch and some rhododendron.
20 plastic piling reinforced peat dams (see top left image) – the dams have been placed strategically in man-made drainage ditches on the bog to stop water escaping off the bog.
5 timber notch dams (see top right image) – these have been installed along the stream travelling beside the bog to slow down the flow and reduce the volume of water lost from the bog.
3500 metres of low elevation contour bunding (see bottom image) – these low peat banks have been created to hold rainwater upslope of them and encourage the growth of sphagnum moss.
|
|
Many thanks to Lauren from NEEMO, the monitor of the LIFE Programme who visited the project in November.
Lauren ventured onto the bog at Cors Caron National Nature Reserve with LIFE Welsh Raised Bogs Project Manager Jake White and Natural Resources Wales Strategic Projects Manager Nick Thomas (see image left).
She was shown the restoration methods that have been done on the site such as low contour peat bunding, scrub removal and Molinia grass cutting. We hope she enjoyed her visit!
|
|
|
We have had a busy period of works on #CorsFochno recently, with lots more planned!
Here is a brief summary of what has been happening:
Bunding – 2243 metres of low contour bunding (see image left) have been installed since the start of September. As we know these peat bunds follow the natural contours of the bog and are designed to plug holes and retain the natural water level on the site, allowing sphagnum moss – the building blocks of peatlands – to establish and thrive.
Mowing – Our wetland harvester has mowed 6.33 hectares (15 acres) of Molinia grass – equivalent to more than 9 football pitches! Molinia (purple moor grass) forms a dense layer on the surface and dries out the bog, so removing it will allow the bog to get wetter and allow space for the important bog plants to return.
Scrub treatment – 29 hectares (71 acres) of scattered birch and willow have been treated, alongside 6 hectares (14 acres) of rhododendron. Trees will drink 100 gallons of water each day and can quickly dry out a bog. In addition, rhododendron is an invasive species which can crowd out the native bog plants. So it’s important to control trees and invasive species that have established on the bog. By stem injecting we ensure that only the target tree is killed, and the surrounding habitat is unaffected.
|
 Re-profiling – We have now finished reprofiling 1023metres of old bunds. These old pressure bunds (orange arrows in above image) were originally constructed 30 years ago and had become a challenge to manage year on year due to two things – their height and narrowness. Being so high meant that scrub (small trees) had encroached and established along them, and they were too narrow to mow with a machine. The bunds have now been lowered and widened and the excess peat was used to fill the pools created during their construction. This will make the pools shallower and encourage more sphagnum to establish and grow quicker. As you can see from the images, this work has left some bare peat, which we hope will gradually get covered by vegetation (as this is what’s happened on the other bunds we have done)
Dipwells – 10 of our old dipwells have been replaced and 34 pressure transducers have been installed in the existing dipwell networks. The transducers measure the pressure of the water and convert this pressure into an electrical signal which is recorded. This equipment allows us to keep track and measure the water level under the peat surface.
Keep up to date with the work by visiting our Facebook and Twitter social media pages.
|
|
The LIFE Welsh Raised Bogs team is happy to announce our newest team member, Dan Hersee.
Dan started with us in October as a Project Assistant on the north sites and will work on Cors Fochno, Rhos Goch (near Builth) and Cors Goch Trawsfynydd.
Dan is originally from Shrewsbury and studied Conservation and Environmental Management at Aberystwyth University.
Prior to joining Natural Resources Wales, Dan was doing an internship and working on his MSc Environmental Management dissertation.
Explaining why he applied for the role, Dan says: “I applied for this role because the LIFE project is an exciting and pioneering project which is safeguarding bogs which have taken thousands of years to build up.”
When he is not out on the bogs Dan enjoys his hobby of mountain biking.
Welcome to the team from all of us, we hope you enjoy working here!
|
|
|
|
World Wetlands Day - Thursday 2 February 2023 is World Wetlands Day, an annual event to raise awareness about wetland habitats. This year's theme is ‘wetland restoration’ and we will be holding a free guided walk to highlight the importance of peatland restoration and some of our techniques. Follow us on social media for more details closer to the date!
Farmers Open Day - we will be holding a free open day on Cors Caron in the spring for those in the farming community. If you're a farmer and would like to speak with machinery operators about techniques and equipment and chat with a tenant farmer then please get in touch. Spaces are free but booking is essential, please email us on liferaisedbogs@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk
Socio-Economic Report - this will be available early next year and will look at how the project has impacted on the local economy around the project sites.
Keep up to date with our progress:
Remember you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for project updates.
|
|
|
|
