Behind the scenes with Countryfile
In mid-December, the SWPP team and BBC Countryfile hopped into our 4x4s and headed up to a remote part of North Dartmoor to capture the current work taking place to restore the degrading carbon-rich peatlands, and visit an area where previous work is already making a difference for wildlife.
You can catch the full episode on iPlayer at this link here, or take a look below at some of the behind-the-scenes pictures from what was a - cold - but really enjoyable day showcasing the importance of peatland restoration for all.
Wood stacked up on site ready to be used by local contractors that day. This wood was milled and produced by the Woodland Trust’s restoration programme at Fingle Woods nearby, where the team are gradually removing conifer trees planted in the 1950s and creating a more resilient and thriving habitat for many more woodland species to withstand the changing climate and biodiversity crises. Working in partnership with the Woodland Trust to source this wood, SWPP then uses these planks to create blocks which are then covered in peat to create an impermeable barrier, helping to raise and stabilise the local water table within dried and degrading peat bogs.
Jonny, SWPP Restoration Officer, and contractors on site took presenter Joe Crowley through the process of creating a wooden block in an erosion gulley, with water soon pooling behind.
“Peatlands are fantastic at holding carbon, but the peatland up here is eroding. So what we’re doing is trying to re-wet that peat, and lock that carbon in as part of mitigation against climate change.” - Jonny
“I love the circular nature of it; everything that’s being done [in Fingle Woods] is then in turn helping to keep the peat going, to restore it, to revive it, and nothing goes to waste.”
“It is incredibly exciting to have our work featured on a reputable TV programme like Countryfile.
It highlights the gravitas of our work, and allows us to contribute to a wider message of hope around efforts to conserve and enhance our natural habitats.” - Jonny
In the afternoon, the sun came out and the low winter light caught the contractors and diggers at work nearby blocking erosion channels that channel water away off the peat. SWPP works with several local contractor firms to carry out the peatland restoration work, which takes place between August and April to avoid the ground-nesting bird season. These machines are adapted to work efficiently and effectively on these upland landscapes in nearly all weathers, with tilt-rotator buckets to reduce digger movement, and wide tracks resulting in a ground pressure on the peat that is less than a human exerts per square inch.
Through the -5 wind chill and a few lively hailstorms, Joe and Morag, SWPP Manager walked across an area of previous impressive peatland restoration nearby where water is being held back in the landscape. Morag, who has worked in peatland restoration in the South West for nearly 15 years, explained to Joe about the both immediate and longer-term benefits of peatland restoration from water quality and quantity regulation to diversifying plantlife and providing habitats for insects, birdlife and amphibians.
“For me personally to see all these changes happening, it’s so rewarding, and it really gives me hope in terms of what we as humans can do.
We can make that positive change for the future.” - Morag
“It’s great for biodiversity, all these little pools. If you come back here in spring and summer, you’ll see them alive with dragonflies and frogs and little water beetles.” - Morag
Thanks again to BBC Countryfile for joining the SWPP team for the day on one of our ongoing peatland restoration sites on North Dartmoor. Peatlands underpin so much of our daily lives, from the water that reaches our taps to ensuring wildlife have space to thrive, and the huge amounts of carbon they store.
Urgent, science-backed and holistic action like our approach is need get peatlands hydrologically functioning, reduce erosion and withstand increasingly extreme weather events, Having this highlighted on a national stage is key in ensuring we can continue to champion and celebrate these boggy, soggy landscapes!