Our top takeaway moments from 2025
It’s been a brilliant year here in the UK’s South West. We’ve spent hundreds of hours of walking across and planning areas of upcoming restoration, assessing historic environment features, commissioning research, installing monitoring equipment and analysing data. We’ve loved meeting hundreds of you at fairs, shows and volunteer days, sharing the positive impact of peatland restoration and partnership working for wildlife, water and people.
The South West Peatland Partnership team have shared their most memorable project, day on site or highlight of 2025. Scroll down to see some of them:
George, Senior Restoration Officer
Working closely with our contractors to restore Tor Royal Bog. We used innovative methods to achieve hydrological restoration due to the scale of the challenge and drainage features; a highlight was returning in the spring to hear snipe drumming.
Justine, Communications
A cold and sunny day spent on Hangingstone Hill on Dartmoor back in February. We showed the BBC team our impactful work, and helped to highlight research that brings a renewed urgency to making our peatlands as climate resilient as possible.
Martin, Historic Environment Officer
Meiler excavation on Langcombe Head, Dartmoor: a type of site never excavated before. This was part of mitigation works allowing peatland restoration on a landscape with a very high level of historic environment protection. Proving again that protecting the natural and cultural environments is not mutually exclusive.
Conrad, Restoration Manager
Back in May, soon after restoration work finished going out to Cranmere on Dartmoor. Snipe were drumming continuously, all day. I've never in my life heard that anywhere. It was like the snipe were celebrating the change in the landscape.
Rachael, Education & Engagement
Our volunteer day with DNPA Youth Rangers back in September. One of the youth rangers, who also did a week of work experience with us in the summer, asked if he could do the introductory talk to the other young people all about what SWPP does and why it is important. All of the group got stuck in, with 2 large peat bunds repaired by hand at the end of the day.
Holly, Project Officer
For our end-of-year celebration on Exmoor with volunteers we went to Aldermans Barrow Allotment to see our peatland restoration works settling in and how the trees planted are doing. It was great to see the willow faggots doing their thing in the enclosures in higher flows of water, slowing the flow by holding it back, interrupting flow pathways and diverting water away from the main erosive channel.
Eddie, Monitoring Manager
Definitely discovering evidence of a beaver at an area of upcoming peatland restoration. It was super exciting! Walking up to what looked like a felled willow thinking ‘hmm, that’s odd that someone has chopped down a tree all the way out here’. Then realising it was in fact a beaver!
Jonny, Project Officer
For me acquiring a set of drones and getting a different perspective of our sites has been a real highlight. The drones are going to help to revolutionise not only how we communicate our work, but also, using photogrammetry, how we plan work and quantify our impact. It’s our next stage in the evolution of peatland restoration!
Morag, SWPP Manager
Going out on site with the work experience students and hearing them explain to me about peatlands was so memorable. It really showed the clarity that SWPP staff present to the young people, giving them the opportunities to really understand the work being done.
Becky, Project Manager
Gathering partner organisations together for a review day this autumn, sharing challenges, successes and exciting opportunities for the next 5 years of peatland restoration.