Dorset's iconic heathlands hold the largest areas of our county's peat in 'peaty pockets' and valley mires. Peatlands are England's largest land-based carbon store, yet most of them are degraded and emitting carbon, because they are not wet enough to be building up peat.
The grant has been awarded following 18 months of survey work by the partnership organisations and volunteers to gather data on an initial long list of 80 candidate sites across urban and rural Dorset and then to identify 16 sites where the most successful restoration can be achieved. This funding will enable restoration of these sites to hold water for longer each year which will reduce the amount of carbon emitted from degraded peat and once restored, allow carbon sequestration. The work will also improve drought and fire resilience by holding more water in the landscape during the summer and by increasing site capacity for water storage, it will also help to reduce nuisance flooding year-round.
Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Director, Imogen Davenport said, ‘We are delighted that the hard work of the partnership to plan for restoration of some of Dorset’s precious peatlands has been recognised by the award of this grant. Our peaty pockets not only act as a carbon and water store, so keeping sites wet in drought and holding back water in flood but of course, they are home to some of our most precious and specialist wildlife. This includes sphagnum moss which plays a part in forming peat soils, insect-eating plants like sundew, and raft spiders, which sense their prey by feeling for vibrations in the water surface.’
Natalie Poulter, Dorset Catchment Partnerships Co-Ordinator said, ‘Dorset is well-known as a beautiful and wildlife-rich county, but our peatlands are overlooked and in decline. This one-million-pound project will provide a huge kick-start to the long-term recovery of these precious wetland habitats. The patchwork nature of Dorset’s heaths and mires means that restoring the wet peaty areas will have a ripple effect of supporting wildlife in the wider heathland habitats too, making this restoration doubly exciting.’ Dorset Peat Partnership is part of Dorset Catchment Partnerships and is hosted by Dorset Wildlife Trust. Other partners include Natural England, Environment Agency, Forestry England, Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP) Council, Dorset Council, National Trust, RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and Bournemouth University, plus one private landowner.
Learn more about the Dorset Peat Partnership here. You can read the Defra announcement here.
The Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme (NCPGS) provides funding to restore peatlands in the uplands and lowlands of England. For more information, visit here.
