Online webinar, Wednesday 17 April 14:00-15:30
Register for the webinar here.
Plantation forestry on peatlands has had significant adverse impacts on biodiversity and functionality of peatlands including the loss or displacement of specially adapted plant and animal communities. However, the practice of forest to bog restoration has advanced significantly, thanks to the collaborative nature of the restoration community. Through knowledge sharing between partnerships and sectors, it is possible to successfully rehabilitate these damaged areas of peatland and recover their beneficial climate and biodiversity functions.
Join the IUCN UK Peatland Programme for this free webinar as we explore 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.
Speakers:
Jess Williams, Policy Lead at IUCN UK Peatland Programme
Jess will be introducing our 'Forest to Bog Restoration: Demonstrating Success' publication and exploring some of its key messages.
Tim Cockerill, Peatland Restoration Forester at Forestry and Land Scotland and Ian McKee, Peatland ACTION Manager for Technical Advice at NatureScot
Tim and Ian will be exploring the work that was done at Benmore Forest and Dalchork Forests in Scotland. They will talk 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 will talk 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 will explore 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 will present 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.
The talks will be followed by a Q&A session with all the speakers.
