SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
Bog mosses find a
new home at Warcop
never been undertaken in the North
Pennines before and 150 bags full of
bog mosses were successfully collected
and spread in the water channels at
Warcop. The sphagnum will soak up
excess water, hold water during the
drier months and grow and expand to
cover nearby areas of bare peat.
Wooden dams installed to slow running water © Alistair Lockett
Sphagnum mosses, also known as bog
mosses, are amazingly multi-coloured
plants that form a protective carpet
across a healthy peatland. They keep
the peat wet, prevent it from eroding
and they are vital for the accumulation
of peat. As a healthy sphagnum
covered peatland accumulates, it takes
in and stores huge amounts of carbon,
much more than any woodland of the
same size. However, if a peatland has
lost its vegetation for one reason or
another, instead of taking in and
storing carbon it releases it into the
atmosphere which contributes to
climate change. It is estimated that a
hectare of bare peat releases 31 tonnes
of C02 every year. This is equivalent to
flying from London to Sydney, and
back again, three times.
Bare peat restoration began on Warcop
Military Range in 2013, organised and
funded by the North Pennines AONB
Partnership (see article in Sanctuary
2013). This work will restore 25ha of
bare and eroding peatland into a
healthy and functioning peatland, with
a good cover of sphagnum moss. Initial
works included installing wooden
dams along eroding channels, which
slow running water, raise the water
table adjacent to the channels and trap
any peat that is being washed down
the channel.
The second stage of this work involved
moving large amounts of sphagnum
moss from a donor site in
Northumberland to its new home at
Warcop. A project of this scale has
The bare peat areas will now be
monitored for the next ten years and
already there are positive signs of
improvement. During a recent survey,
vegetation cover has increased from
an average of 10% to 18% over just
one growing season. The hope is that
this trend will continue and the area
will be well on its way to becoming a
healthy blanket bog after the project
has finished.
Emma Taylor, Peatland Programme
Field Offcer said: “ Warcop is a huge
upland site and we have only just
scratched the surface of what could be
done to restore these damaged peatlands.
The MOD and Landmarc staff fully
support the work and it is uplif ting to see
results af ter such a short space of time. We
hope to continue to work in partnership
with the MOD to restore other damaged
areas of the fell as long as there is
available funding.”
Alistair Lockett
Field Offcer
North Pennines AONB Partnership
Peatlands provide many ecosystem
benefits to both local and the wider
population. Not only does a healthy
peatland mitigate against climate
change by taking in and storing
carbon, it plays an important role in
water quality and supply. For example,
70% of the UK’s drinking water comes
from the uplands. Peatlands are also
nationally and internationally
important for declining and globally
threatened species including lapwing,
curlew and golden plover.
Sphagnum growth behind wooden dam, one year after it was transplanted © Emma Taylor
Sanctuary 44 • 2015
21