Moorland owners credited with restoring peatlands

A HISTORIC dale grouse moor has signed up to a pioneering initiative aimed at transforming the health of the country’s prized peatlands.

Wemmergill Estate is the first to join the Natural England scheme, which aims at ensuring moorland vegetation is managed sympathetically.

Natural England believes restoring and enhancing the UK’s deep peat is fundamental to the future of the country’s environment as it plays a major role in carbon storage, flood alleviation and the provision of clean drinking water.

It has ensured some 24,000 hectares of blanket bog have undergone restoration work including revegetation on grouse moors in England – an area larger than the combined cities of Manchester and Liverpool – and an increase of 50 per cent on last year.

The new approach to managing moorlands is considered to be a real step in the right direction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) UK Peatland Programme, which has welcomed a move away from rotational burning.

Shooting records at Wemmergill dates back to 1872 and currently the estate employs seven keepers. The plan ensures it is run “in harmony with nature”.

MP Dr Therese Coffey, parliamentary under-secretary at Defra, visited the estate and said: “I was pleased to visit the Wemmergill Estate, not long after the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, to see the work of the different stakeholders coming together to devise this innovative, conservation-friendly management plan.

“The UK’s unique upland ecology must be safeguarded for future generations to enjoy. This approach is helping to achieve this by highlighting the various benefits that can be reaped from a variety of grouse moor management practices. I thank the estate, the Moorland Association and Natural England for their achievement and commend this approach to others.”

Richard Johnson, director of Wemmergill Moor Ltd, added: “This ground-breaking management plan has allowed us to build a fantastic working relationship of mutual respect, trust and understanding with Natural England for a multiple of socio-economic and environmental objectives. Mr and Mrs Michael Cannon, as Wemmergill’s owners, are very keen to be at the forefront of forward thinking land management that protects all that is special in our corner of rural County Durham as well as handing it to the next generation in better shape to face future challenges.”

At the heart of measures being taken on Wemmergill Estate to safeguard the future of its upland ecology, is extensive work to ensure a fully functioning blanket bog system. To date, the estate with help from the North Pennines AONB Partnership has successfully blocked 592km of grips on blanket bog resulting in the rewetting of thousands of hectares of peat and the restoration of active blanket bog. In the new management agreement a further 191km of grips will be allowed to fill naturally. In addition, 32 hectares of bare peat restoration will be undertaken to stop erosion and protect the carbon stored beneath.

This “outcomes approach” at Wemmergill is considered by Natural England as an excellent example of the wider collaborative strategy.