The Art and Energy Collective has been awarded a grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to work in partnership with peatland restoration and cultural organisations across the South-West region. Together they will invite thousands of people to join in with a Peat-Fest this summer and autumn to encourage a love of peatland landscapes.
Today, The Art and Energy Collective is announcing a £114,397 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for Peat-Fest South-West 2025 (https://www.artandenergy.org/peatfestsouthwest) a region-wide celebration aimed at raising awareness of peatland heritage through interactive youth-focused events, intergenerational skills exchange, creative engagement, and digital storytelling. From Somerset and Dorset, Dartmoor and Exmoor down to Cornwall, people of all ages will be invited to experience the power of peatlands and celebrate why they are so special.
“We are delighted with this news,” said Naomi Wright, Director of The Art and Energy Collective, “Now, with this money, organisations and young people around the region can invite thousands more people to fantastic boggy and curiosity-generating events and hear our peaty heritage stories loud and clear. I want to say a big thank you to National Lottery players for making this possible.”
RE-PEAT has been engaged as a key delivery partner for this project, with specific responsibilities for youth engagement, co-creation of youth focused activities at events, and capturing young voices for the development of a regional peatland heritage manifesto.
“Young People for Old Peat is our motto, and this opportunity is so exciting. Reaching more young people, changing hearts and minds for and through peatlands. I am from the South-West, and this Peat-Fest is going to take me to my favourite people and places.” says Rachael Milliner, project coordinator from RE-PEAT.
Peatlands are often misunderstood as treeless wastelands, as places to fear, areas of land which hold nothing; they are often considered to be sites lacking in cultural heritage. Peat[1]Fest South-West addresses this misconception and will present places full of wildlife and heritage interest. The depth of heritage is as deep as the peaty fens, with experience and voices to be heard and broadcasted from the workers of peat in the Somerset Levels, farmers of upland peatland landscapes, insect lovers, climate researchers and artists, archaeologists and landscape restorers.
The South-West is not as renowned for its peaty landscapes as some other parts of the UK, but peatland covers up to 10% of the land cover throughout the region. Peatland stores more carbon than woodlands. It plays a vital role in water security. These environmental benefits are under threat with as little as 3% in a healthy, biodiverse, and functioning state in some places.
Peat-Fest South-West will ensure that peatlands will grow in people’s hearts and minds with activities to join in with in all the peatlands across the region.
All the learning and experience from this Festival will be shared on the Virtual Peatlands Pavilion supported by the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. In the long-term, this regional celebration will strengthen the network of young people, groups and organisations working together for the benefit of peatlands and raise public awareness of the benefits of boggy landscapes at a time of climate change and ecological decline.
