New works supercharge precious peatland on England’s first ‘Super’ National Nature Reserve - National Trust
Work to rewet and restore vital peatland habitats is underway on England’s first ‘super’ National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Purbeck, Dorset. The area was chosen as one of 16 sites for a £1 million Dorset Peat Partnership project seeking to reinstate 172 hectares (425 acres) of peatland, equivalent to the area of over 240 football pitches, across the county.
The Partnership is one of 23 restoration projects across England to benefit from an investment of over £50million by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to restore peatland across approximately 35,000 hectares in England by the end of this Parliament to help tackle climate change and boost biodiversity.
The first phase of the peatland restoration in Purbeck is taking place on Agglestone Mire and Greenlands Mire near Studland, both cared for by the National Trust. Heather bales, timber and bunds made of peaty soil will be used to create ‘leaky dams’ to block old ditches, which were originally dug to drain marshes for conifer plantations or to graze farm animals, to force the water to flow across the mire rather than down artificial channels.
David Brown, the National Trust’s lead ecologist in Purbeck, said: “Spreading the flow of water across the mires will create a wetter habitat where mosses and other rare plants like marsh saxifrage and tiny bog orchids can thrive. Under the acidic, waterlogged conditions, mosses and other plants never fully decompose, and over time they turn into new peat which keeps their carbon locked up instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. Purbeck's peat forming mires have enormous significance for rare insects, plants and other wildlife, including bog hoverflies and birds such as skylarks, as well as one of our few long-term carbon storage habitats.”
Re-wetting the mires will also improve drought and fire resilience by holding more water in the landscape during the summer, as well as helping to prevent flooding by soaking up heavy rainfall.
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Posted On: 21/02/2024