Bare peat represents the death of peatlands. After decades of drainage and extraction, Thorne Moors had no shortage of it. Yet under Natural England’s management the National Nature Reserve (NNR) has undergone a remarkable recovery. Much of the Lowland Raised Bog has revegetated, and although the NNR team continues to grapple with hydrological challenges and scrub encroachment, the overall trajectory is positive.
From 2021 the EU-funded LIFE Moor Space project began working on Goole Moor, part of the wider Thorne Moors complex. Early drone surveys revealed the urgent need to address bare peat that remained dry in summer and waterlogged in winter. This situation gave no opportunity for bog plants to colonise the bare peat.
At the outset of LIFE Moor Space, we had 26 hectares of bare peat, fragmented across the 400-hectare project area. Restoration has involved targeted actions rather than wholesale change to the landscape, building on the iterative nature of peatland restoration.
As peatland practitioners know, restoration begins with stabilising the water table. LIFE Moor Space worked with contractors to design a new low-cost adjustable weir, that has now been installed in drainage channels, allowing targeted management of the largest pools. With hydrology under control the team moved to the next stage: plug planting. To date NE staff and volunteers have planted 18,652 sphagnum plugs, including S. capillifolium, S. fimbriatum, S. palustre, S. papillosum, and S. subnitens. These were complemented by 11,536 cottongrass plugs—8,652 Common Cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium) and 2,884 Hare’s-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum).
