The coir logs and stone, brought to site by helicopter, are being used to block erosion channels. Brash – a mixture of cut heather, cotton grass and other peatland plants – is being spread over bare areas of peat to re-seed it and protect it from eroding further. Much precious peat has been washed off the moor in recent decades. On parts of Fleet Moss, channels four metres deep have appeared. This means four thousand years of history have in effect been swept away, as peat is formed by sphagnum mosses at a rate of one metre depth every thousand years. Work on the ground has now been paused for the ground nesting bird season but it will begin again in July, before the three-year project comes to an end in December.
AN ‘ENORMOUS’ amount of restoration work is taking place at the most damaged blanket bog peatland in the National Park. Thousands of tonnes of coir, brash and stone have been brought this spring to Fleet Moss, Oughtershaw and Bleaberry – an area of moorland covering 166 hectares, located six kilometres south of of Hawes. The coir logs and stone, brought to site by helicopter, are being used to block erosion channels. Brash – a mixture of cut heather, cotton grass and other peatland plants – is being spread over bare areas of peat to re-seed it and protect it from eroding further. Much precious peat has been washed off the moor in recent decades. On parts of Fleet Moss, channels four metres deep have appeared. This means four thousand years of history have in effect been swept away, as peat is formed by sphagnum mosses at a rate of one metre depth every thousand years.
Peatland restoration on the Raby Estate A FOUR-year peatland restoration project in the North Pennines is delivering 3,343 acres of peatland restoration in a venture that will strengthen the region’s ability to fight climate change. Pennine PeatLIFE, funded by the EU LIFE programme with match funding from Yorkshire Water, United Utilities, Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency, is led by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in collaboration with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Forest of Bowland AONB Partnership. Nine privately owned estates managed for grouse shooting are currently taking part in the restoration accounting for the vast majority of the peatlands in the project covering an area of 1,000 rugby pitches.