Discover the hidden power of peatlands
A new film from the South West Peatland Partnership
Peatlands are extraordinary landscapes, out of sight from many of our daily lives, but powerful and vital for life as we know it.
Our new film reveals their beauty and the optimism in their restoration, whether that’s the dragonflies dancing on sparkling pools on Dartmoor, the scale of the works underway on Exmoor, or the micro-mosses thriving below our feet on Bodmin Moor.
Take 11 1/2 minutes out of your day to meet just some of the team who are working year-round in partnership to tackle areas of degrading peat.
Join us in celebrating these incredible ecosystems, the scale of the challenge ahead and the hope for the future that their restoration brings.
Peatlands matter
When peatlands are healthy and functioning, they help to regulate the flow of water from upland areas, provide habitat for wildlife and hold clues to our shared culture and history. But with 80% of England’s peatland degraded, there’s a lot to be done to ensure they stay Earth’s largest land store of carbon. Shaping peatland positively impacts all our future here in the UK’s South West and worldwide.
Peatland restoration isn’t simple, but it works.
The peatlands of Cornwall, Exmoor and Dartmoor have been changed by industrial activity, mining, draining and cutting for fuel. They are eroding, losing carbon and are not the thriving, wildlife-rich and wet environments that they should be.
The South West Peatland Partnership uses proven, science-backed methods to restore degraded peatlands. We tackle erosion and degradation, protect the historic environment, carry out research and monitor every step to do all we can to help restoration succeed, even on often severely damaged peat. It takes time to tackle hundreds of years of degradation: some benefits are immediate for wildlife and water, and other benefits for the climate may take 20 years to be measurable. But without action today, our peatlands may not be here at all in 40 years time.
Together, we’re making a difference
Collaboration and long-term commitment are transforming peatlands across the South West. This is a shared effort. Researchers are studying human industrial uses of landscape, contractors are investing in specialised machinery, volunteers are giving up their time to monitor change, and landowners are helping with access and funding to help bring a positive change to their land that will benefit local communities and nature.
Every bit of restored bog is a step towards better spaces for water, wildlife, people and the climate. Momentum is building and we’ll keep championing these carbon-storing, water-filtering, wildlife-homing archaeology havens that provide water for livestock too. Already, over 5,000 hectares of peatland have had restoration works across them across Cornwall, Exmoor and Dartmoor and there’s much more to do.
“It’s the work of several lifetimes, it really is. And that is intimidating, and it’s a challenge, but its extraordinarily exciting. ”
“Monitoring is a really great way to support the argument for restoring these landscapes. We have these methods and we can prove that they work.”
We need to act urgently for peatlands
The changing climate and extreme weather are already impacting peatlands. Our teams out on the moor are no stranger to the record-breaking rainfall we’re getting on Dartmoor or the long period of dry weather in recent summers on Bodmin Moor.
We’re already at the edge of the weather conditions needed for peat to form down in the South West, so what we do today really does determine peatland’s tomorrow. Together, we can make these landscapes more resilient, consistently wetter and better for generations to come.
SWPP is funded by Natural England’s Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, South West Water, The Duchy Of Cornwall, Environment Agency and National Trust. Thank you to all the partner organisations, contractors, farmers, interest groups, commoners, volunteers and researchers who enable our work to happen. Thanks also to Here Now Films for working with us on this film, we’re really proud of it.
Follow along with our work: