The importance of Peat land resoration

 *This blog was originally posted on 05.11.2020 on the Palaeomanchester blog*


Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed plant matter that has been deposited in anaerobic and acidic conditions. These conditions subsequently slow decomposition for any matter that they encompass. The majority of modern peat bogs form 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice ace and grow at roughly 1mm per year.

Peat has been exploited in the past for traditional uses such as producing fuel, cooking and domestic heating. It is also a viable water source, with more than 28 million people in the UK using peatland storage as a source of drinking water. This early exploitation has however caused peatlands to decline in the UK and around the world.

Peat gatherers at Westhay, Somerset Levels, 1905.

One of the main properties of peatland is that they act as carbon sink, trapping carbon so it is not released in the atmosphere. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) calculates that peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store on earth, as the 3 million km2 of peatland that covers the earth contains over 550 gigatonnes of carbon.

The presence of peat therefore slows down the rate of global climate change, as it means there is less greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Peatlands have also been known to have other purposes such as providing a habitat for flora and fauna, storing water for drinking and living and preventing floods.

Damaged peatlands release 6% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions every year, so the UK is establishing a strategic peatland action plan to support the UK’s climate mitigation plans and international biodiversity targets. In the UK, the pioneers in Peat land restoration is an organisation known as Moors for the Future.

The biggest challenge when it comes to restoring peat is that there is nothing to hold it in place, meaning it is susceptible to damage by erosion, abrasion and being trampled on by wandering animals and humans. Constant seasonal changes also damage the structure, as the freeze-thaw action in cold weather and the drying action in warm weather makes the peat prone to be blown or washed away by wind and water.

Peat stabilisation is therefore essential and can be done by covering peat with heather brash, which contains seeds as well as moss fragments and spores. This will protect the peat from wind erosion, thus creating stable conditions for germination and means that seeds of fast-growing shrubs and grasses can be sown. This is normally done by helicopter in order to cover large areas. Fertiliser is also used to encourage the growth of these plants. Heavy machinery may also be used to stabilise peat, especially in cases where a landform has caused the area to be too steep for brash to stay in place.

An example to show the preservation properties that peat has can be seen in the Lindow man (also known as Pete Marsh), which is a preserved human body dating to between 2 BC an 119 AD. The body was discovered in 1983, at least 1800 years after it was buried and was found to still have hair and one eye intact. This specimen is on display at the British Museum in London, but has been on a previous exhibition at Manchester Museum in 1987, 1991 and 2008.

Various peat specimens, part of collections at Manchester Museum.

References
– Gorham, E., 1957. The Development of Peat Lands. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 32(2), pp.145-166.
– Kopp, Otto C.. “Peat”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Nov. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/technology/peat.
– Lancswt.org.uk. n.d. Peatland restoration | The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside. [online] Available at: <https://www.lancswt.org.uk/our-work/projects/peatland-restoration&gt;
– Moors for the Future. 2019. The conservation works season of 2019–2021 is set to be the biggest yet for peatland restoration | Moors for the Future. [online] Available at: <https://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/the-latest/recent-news/moorlife-2020/the-conservation-works-season-of-20192021-is-set-to-be-the-biggest-yet-for-peatland-restoration&gt;

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