Restoration
Through its Peatscapes project, the North Pennines AONB Partnership has set a target to block 1000 km of moorland grips by 2012. At an estimated cost of one million pounds, this will hydrologically restore over 4,000 hectares of blanket bog.
Grip blocking
Over the last four winters, 100,000 peat dams have been installed to block 950 kilometres of moorland drains.
Contractors use special excavators to create peat dams in drains, blocking them at regular intervals to stop water flows. In some projects, drain edges are also reprofiled, helping to speed up vegetation recovery. Have a look at our film below to learn more.
Once blocked, the ditches fill with water and begin to re-vegetate, slowly restoring to moorland vegetation rich in the Sphagnum moss and Cotton grass that peat is made from.
We estimate that 60% of blanket bog drains in the North Pennines have now been blocked. Much of this restoration has been carried out in the last five years, driven by Higher Level Scheme agreements developed by land managers in partnership with Natural England.
Bare and eroding peat
20 km2 of our high blanket bogs are suffering from extensive erosion, leaving exposed bare peat. These damaged bogs often need intervention to help vegetation recolonise the bare peat. Learning from restoration techniques developed in the Peak District and other parts of England, our own bare peat restoration programme is now underway. At Allendale Common in Northumberland we temporarily fenced a seven hectare section of eroded blanket bog early in 2010.
Blanket bog brash has now been mown from the Common and spread onto the bare peat surface to protect it from the harsh weather and introduce moorland plant seed sources. Similar projects at other sites will commence later this year. Watch this video to learn more about the process of peatland restoration.
Across the world peatland restoration programmes are growing as governments recognise the importance of peatlands. Examples of these international projects, supported by organisations like Wetlands International can be seen here.
Watch this video to learn more about the process of peatland restoration.