Wales Practitioners Event
May saw another successful all-Wales Practitioners Event organised by NPAP. A popular event, it was over-subscribed with 30 practitioners from 14 organisations/projects engaged in 4 different visits at peatland sites with different practitioner considerations. The site host on 7/5 was the Elan Valley Trust. Coordinated by Iona Blockley, the visits included gaining an understanding of the tenant land-managers’ perspectives to peatland restoration. The second day sites were at Cors Caron; at a LIFE Welsh Raised Bog site presented by Jake White, and a smaller LIFE Quaking Bog site explained by Catherine Jones. There was real enthusiasm and a buzz around the event, helped in no small part by the presentations by NPAP and Welsh Government in the evening with a special message from the Deputy First Minister, Huw Irranca Davies. The feedback was also very positive, which always helps with the planning for a follow-up in 2026: “Well organised, with lots of excellent conversations. General structure of the day was great, especially visits to both restored and eroding areas.”
Wales Peatland Action Practitioners were greeted by the Deputy First Minister at the National Peatland Action Programme event in May 2025.
Communicating the value of peatlands
Human interaction with peatland the crux of what we do. Some in our midst are experts, land healers restoring peatlands to near natural state, others through monitoring and data, prove to their fellow humans the value of peatland restoration. Then there are the communicators who respect the cherished peatland heritage of past generations whilst ardently seeking to change attitudes for the benefit of future generations. With this in mind, the NPAP team produced two dual-language introductory videos for public engagement. One is an animated mesmerizing tribute to people’s evolving relationship with peatland in the past, present and future. The other conveys, in less that four minutes of infographics and photos, the rationale behind peatland restoration.
- People and peatlands animation: Wales Peatland Story (English version), Stori Mawndir Cymru (Welsh version)
- Why we restore peatlands: Peatlands: the good, the bad, and the land healers (English version), Mawndiroedd: y da, y drwg, a'r tirfeddygon (Welsh version).
With the appropriate credits, partners are welcome to embed the videos for their own public outreach around peatlands; contact npap@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk.
