Peatland Restoration

Why Peatlands?

Peatlands are a type of water-logged habitat that store huge amounts of carbon. They are home to important and rare wildlife such as the Curlew. They also act as natural sponges, absorbing and regulating the flow of water and reducing the risk of floods and droughts. Peatlands are therefore crucial in our fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. With one of the highest annual rainfall figures in the UK, the Carneddau is a famously wet place, and its extensive areas of peatlands reflects this.

Fighting climate change

Storing twice as much carbon as forests, peatlands are important in our fight against climate change.

A natural flood defence

Acting as a sponge, peatlands have an ability to store rainwater and slow the water flow to lower lands.

Preserving ancient treasures

Peatlands provide a unique archive of our past, from ancient pollen to Bronze Aged treasures. Did you know every metre of peat contains 1,000 years of history?

Here’s a digger up on Llwytmor, Western Carneddau, re-profiling exposed peat hags by reducing the slopes of the eroded peat and covering back over with turf. This helps the habitat to recover and prevents it from drying out and releasing carbon.

What are we doing?

Led by the Welsh Peatlands Sustainable Management Scheme, peatland restoration works have been focused on Gledrffordd and Llwytmor, two of the biggest areas of peat in the Carneddau.

Restoration works have included re-profiling areas of exposed peat that are susceptible to drying out and releasing carbon into the atmosphere.

Eroded peat can also be restored by re-colonising the bare ground with suitable seeds, young Sphagnum moss plants, or mulch, with the help of volunteers.

Why is this important?

Peatlands play a vital role in addressing climate change due to their huge potential to store carbon when the habitat is in a healthy condition.

When left unmanaged, exposed, and eroded sections of peat can lead to the loss of wildlife, including birds such as curlews, Merlins and Hen Harriers, due to the declining state of the habitat’s condition.

When in good condition, though, peatlands act like a sponge, absorbing and retaining huge volumes of water, slowing the flow, and helping to prevent the risk of flooding downstream. This sponge effect also means they can continue to feed river systems in drought conditions, which in turn increases the landscape’s resilience to changes in the climate and weather patterns.

Studying peat is a window into the past where biological matter such as pollen has been preserved, thereby providing a record of the historical environment thousands of years ago. This enhances our understanding of how the landscape has evolved and changed through history.