Successful Conclusion of Latest European Peatland LIFE Nature Project
by Stuart Brooks
Since the start of the 19th Century the extent of primary, active, lowland raised bog in the UK has decreased by 85%. Two thirds of the remaining area is found in Scotland and, despite the scale of destruction, Scotland holds some of the best remaining examples of (Atlantic coastal) lowland peatland in the current European Union.
The project was lead by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (an NGO) but the bulk of the site works was carried out by Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland (both statutory agencies).
The project set out to restore 11 of the most important sites in the country representing 45% of the lowland raised bog area designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) under the European Union Habitats Directive. The project provided the opportunity to undertake work across the full geographical range of lowland raised bogs in Scotland from the Atlantic coastal site of Moine Mhor, to Flanders Moss in the centre of the country and Turclossie Moss in the far north east. Interestingly this geographical range exhibits considerable variation in flora, mainly governed by the influence of the Atlantic. The wetter west coast sites are also much more tolerant of damaging activities such as drainage and burning.
The project concluded in December 2003 and has been declared a huge success. Within two years the partner organisations removed 430ha of non native conifer plantations, cleared 253ha of encroaching scrub, installed 2,153 dams into ditches, and erected 12,101m of fencing to control grazing. New techniques were developed to control scrub through conservation grazing and remove old stands of heather by mowing. The project also developed new techniques to block large ditches and construct floating access and harvest roads using tree waste and straw. Additional outputs included newsletters for local communities around the peatlands and on site interpretation boards.
Although the project exceeded all of its target outputs it is too early to tell if it has succeeded in restoring these peatlands or in some cases bringing them into favourable condition as determined by the Natura habitat condition assessment. Scotland is continuing to develop new and useful restoration techniques but it does so perhaps in some isolation of the scientific understanding that is required to underpin management decisions. In reality we do not know how these peatlands are behaving either as a result of their past land use or our current intervention. Our tendency has been to manage by intuition rather than design based on a thorough understanding of peatland processes. However, we also recognise that some of this knowledge already exists, perhaps within other countries where similar peatland types are found, such as the Baltic States. There is potential therefore to establish collaborative projects based on an exchange of expertise. Sharing our findings is part of that process.
The project reported its findings on two CD ROMs and at an international conference in Dumfries last October, attended by 100 delegates from a number of EU countries. Copies of the project CD ROMs can be requested by e-mailing Stuart Brooks at sbrooks@swt.org.uk. The CDs contain the final project report, digital images of the project sites and work carried out, technical papers, conference presentations and papers.
Stuart Brooks is Head of Conservation of Scottish Wildlife Trust.