Peatscapes

Peatscapes is a new, collaborative project that aims to conserve and enhance the internationally important peatland within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The objectives of Peatscapes are:

- Restoration: Supporting restoration and management work through the promotion of existing agri-environment and wildlife enhancement grants and through sourcing new additional funds;

- Celebration: Raising the level of understanding and appreciation of the significance of the resource to those living in, working in and visiting the area;

- Promoting best practice: Supporting the provision of management advice on upland peatland to form the basis of practical management works;

- Research: Supporting and disseminating new and existing research into peatland processes, ecology and management.

The North Pennines contains about 27% of England’s peatland resource. The area is of European and nationally recognised biodiversity importance for key plant community types and bird species and has important cultural and economic links to current and past land use. Despite their importance in the North Pennines, peatlands are poorly understood and little valued as a landscape.

The North Pennines peatlands face some significant environmental challenges that need to be addressed. Drainage ditches (grips) cut into the peat over the last 60 years are still in place in many instances and are lowering the water table of many peatland areas. It is estimated that there are currently more than 10,000 kilometres of drainage grips in the North Pennines, which are having measurable and concerning effects on water quality, flooding risk and greenhouse gas emissions. Using detailed digital spatial information Peatscapes will identify priority areas for blocking and begin to restore some of these areas while continuing to link farmers, land managers and owners with the appropriate government stewardship schemes.

Environmentally insensitive burning also occurs in some areas; which has the effect of changing the structure of the plant and shrub layers which impacts of the formation of peat. Heather burning is done mainly as a management technique for grouse hunting. Grouse hunting is an important activity providing significant incomes for many of the estates in the area and as such negotiating environmental sustainable and economically viable agreements is necessary. Peatscapes will work with government agencies to present land managers with sound scientific advice as to burning techniques and to raise awareness that burning can be undertaken so that it minimises environmental damage and maximises economic benefits to community.

High levels of grazing of sheep in some areas also cause erosion and diversity problems in the peatlands. While this is not a wide spread problem in the North Pennines as grazing levels are typically low, grazing levels are one of the criteria required by English Nature to be considered when evaluating the condition of peatlands. Peatscapes will continue to disseminate information regarding the appropriate levels of sheep grazing in upland habitats.

Peatscapes is supported by the Environment Agency, Natural England, Northumbrian Water and by the County Durham Environmental Trust (CDENT). CDENT awarded Peatscapes a £75,000 grant that will be used to undertake a peatland restoration pilot project, blocking a series of grips on the Weardale moors. The restoration project area is currently being negotiated with landowners and work is anticipated to begin in winter. The actual grip blocking process is a fairly straightforward undertaking which involves strategically blocking the key grips with dams or plugs that are usually made out of peat; but can be made of other substances depending on the terrain. This grip blocking project will be the first in a series lead by the Peatscapes project over the next 3 years

Paul Leadbitter

paulpeatscapes@northpenninesaonb.org.uk