Forest to Bog restoration webinar

This webinar explored forest to bog restoration case studies from across the UK, looking at the challenges and opportunities presented by each project as well as celebrating their key successes and future ambitions.

The speakers were: Speakers: 
Jess Williams, Policy Lead at IUCN UK Peatland Programme

Tim Cockerill, Peatland Restoration Forester at Forestry and Land Scotland and Ian McKee, Peatland ACTION Manager for Technical Advice at NatureScot - Tim and Ian explored the work that was done at Benmore Forest and Dalchork Forests in Scotland. They talked about the techniques that were used to rewet and un-modify ploughed ridges and furrows on a moderate slope and minimise peat disturbance and compaction on these challenging restoration sites.

Joseph Pickard, Lost Peatlands Project Ecologist at Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council and Dr Jon Walker from Swansea University - Joey and Jon talked about the forest to bog restoration of the peatlands of the Rhigos Mountains in Wales including how collaboration between partners allowed them to pool their knowledge and leverage funding to deliver more for less.

Diane Foster, Catchment Project Manager External Funding at NI Water and Kerry Morris, Catchment Liaison Officer at NI Water - Diane and Kerry explored the Tullychurry Forest case study in Northern Ireland, which looked at the impacts of forest to bog restoration and have informed future restoration at afforested sites impacting raw water quality for drinking water supply.

Robert Duff, Senior Advisor Peatlands & Restoration, Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, Natural England - Robert presented the Marches Mosses forest to bog restoration case study on the English/Welsh border, which shows promising results but is reliant on both effective rewetting and long-term post-restoration management.

For more case studies, please see our Forest to Bog Restoration: Demonstrating Success publication: https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme...