SWPP @ the IUCN Peatland Conference
Back in September, some of the team made the long journey northwards from the South West to Scotland for the annual International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Peatland Programme conference held in Aviemore.
The scale of peatland restoration in the UK has drastically increased from the first conference team members attended 11 years ago with maybe 100 attendees, to joining over 450 attending in person and even more online in 2024. Over the three days discussions ranged from policy updates across the UK and new monitoring technologies to artistic responses to peatland landscapes.
Invereshie and Inshriach National Nature Reserve
Creag Meagaidh - one of the sites which is managing deer populations
On the second day of the conference, we all enjoyed a day out to see some of the restoration work going on across the Cairngorms National Park, and how this compares to the sites we're working on. The weather was beautiful which made the site visits all the more fun (and helped keep the midges at bay!). Whilst there are similarities between the sites we saw in Scotland and our work in the UK’s South West, there are also plenty of differences too. Like areas across Exmoor, Dartmoor and Cornwall, Scotland's peat has historically been drained for agriculture and grazing, but also for forestry, with large-scale tree planting incentives in the ‘70s and ‘80s which further dried out the peat. Additionally, Scottish peat has historically been cut for use as fuel for heating and in some areas crofters still have rights to this practice.
There was lots of great information shared at the conference but here are some of the team's top takeaways:
The SWPP can be proud that it really focuses on a holistic, water-first approach to restoration. If we restore the hydrology and functioning of the habitat this will allow the rest to follow. Across our sites we’ve used a range of materials to slow the flow and raise the water table, from peat, timber, and stone in gullies of various sizes, to trialling wool logs as part of our bunds.
People have heard of us! The SWPP was mentioned lots at the conference, whether that’s our participation in Eyes on the Bog, team members sharing knowledge with other partnerships or our collaborative work with creative, artistic projects like STACKS and the Art & Energy mossy carpet.
The SWPP leads the way in our experience in palaeoecology. The South West has some really significant historical remains and palaeoenvironmental evidence and the work we do having multiple archaeologists as integral parts of the team is unique and really special. This allows our work to have historic environment considerations at its core right from planning through to implementation.
Muir of Dinnet: hydrological restoration is key to peatland restoration, but even on a single site there can be variation in success from initial interventions.
Muir of Dinnet: the central area of this site is raised and methods are being tried to raise the water table into this higher ground.
One of the takeaways from the conference that the SWPP can really take pride in is the quality of our peatland restoration; by always looking to achieve full hydrological restoration we're able to set a standard for what restoration should be. As well as showcasing the positive work the SWPP does, the conference was also a great way for us to see what other peatland restoration organisations are doing really well, and what we could do in the future.
There are opportunities to trial other methods that could give us a bigger picture of the impacts of the restoration work that we carry out on the health of the South West's peatland systems. One in particular is the use of bioacoustics monitoring for bird/bat/other species presence. This could potentially be used by our monitoring team alongside trail cameras we already set up on site.
There's a huge variation in the cost of peatland restoration per hectare across the country and this highlights the importance of a standardised approach to restoration being audited to assess the quality of restoration being implemented. This then gives investors more clarity over what they're getting involved in and supporting. Getting private finance into peatland restoration presents an ongoing challenge. In England the current government grants come to an end in 2026 and it is yet to be seen if the Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) will be up and running by then with ELMS representing the future funding mechanism for government funding of peatland restoration in England. There were some interesting and useful discussions to be had with other practitioners around schemes they're trialling.
Deer population management is a big deal in Scotland: one of the sites visited was finding 200-300 dead deer a year in the 1980s as the area was so overpopulated. Managing the deer population and bringing the numbers down ensures a healthy population of deer, reduces grazing pressure and helps tree regeneration, with species like rowan able to grow with small amounts of browsing which builds up the trees' resilience.
SWPP (and friends) on tour!
Thank you as always to the brilliant and dedicated team over at IUCN Peatland Programme for pulling together practitioners, contractors, policy makers and people involved in all elements of the complex world of peatland restoration! It’s always so inspiring to be together in one room, and see the global momentum for tackling the ongoing degradation of this vital ecosystem - we’re proud to be part of it!