Signs of success in drive to save peatlands
WORK TO restore peatlands in Yorkshire and Lancashire is important work which will help these upland areas to thrive, teams of environmentalists have said.
Over the last year, work has started to restore bogs in Lancashire and Yorkshire through Pennine PeatLIFE, a major project restoring peatlands along the length of the Pennine chain.
Forest of Bowland, Nidderdale and North Pennines Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Yorkshire Dales National Park are recognised for their beauty, attracting visitors from around the world.
In the Yorkshire Dales, work has been centred on 800 acres of blanket bog across Arkengarthdale, Bishopdale, Langstrothdale and Nidderdale.
On one of the most eroded sites, the bare peat is visible from space. Across sites in these Dales, completed works include 708 stones dams, 60 timber dams and 4.3 miles of coir dams to slow the flow of water and keep the peat on the bogs.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Peatland Restoration Officer, coordinating work in the Yorkshire Dales, Jenny Sharman, said: “The works that started in Bishopdale last winter are really showing progress – we can see so much water being held back on the moor, and sphagnum is starting to grow in the new pools.
“It’s great to see work getting under way in Langstrothdale – peatland restoration is a long process but we are already beginning to see results in only a matter of months since restoration started.
“Three of our sites are registered with the Peatland Code, so we know that we’ll prevent 19,628 tonnes of carbon emissions from those bogs over the next 30 years – that’s good news for the climate and good news for peatlands.”
The Pennine PeatLIFE project is being led by the North Pennines Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership in collaboration with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Forest of Bowland AONB.