Conference 2025: Day 3

The future of our peatlands depends on the next generation of scientists, policymakers, practitioners, and land managers. Fresh perspectives, creativity, and energy are essential to accelerating restoration efforts and driving meaningful change. This plenary session spotlighted emerging talent in the peatland community, offering a platform for youth representatives to share their visions, experiences, and aspirations. The panel explored the diverse career paths available to new entrants in the sector and discussed the key barriers and enablers to achieving the scale and pace of action that peatlands urgently require.

Chaired by Craig Bennett, CEO, The Wildlife Trusts

Panel members:

Lucy Jackson, Peatlands Restoration Trainee, Ulster Wildlife

Sam Halliday, Training Officer (Nature Restoration), Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Kirsty Hedderwick, Senior Environmental Consultant, ADLnature

Jack Simpson, Senior Specialist Advisor, Wales National Peatland Action Programme

Peatland Progress: one year on from the UK Peatland Strategy report

As we drew the conference to a close, this plenary session brought together representatives from the four UK nations to share rapid-fire insights on national progress for peatlands. Building on the UK Peatland Strategy Progress Report published a year ago, each speaker delivered a lightning talk highlighting key developments, with a particular focus on new mechanisms and approaches to meet capacity and scale restoration efforts. The panel also reflected on the key themes, challenges, and opportunities emerging from the conference, offering a forward-looking perspective on what’s needed next to deliver impact at pace and scale across the UK’s peatland landscapes.

Chaired by Rob Stoneman, Director of Landscape Recovery, Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts

Speakers:

Sara McGuckin, Head of Natural Science, Northern Ireland Environment Agency

Claire McVeigh, Peatlands Collaborative and Technical Network Officer, Ulster Wildlife

Jake White, Team Leader, Wales National Peatland Action Programme

Christopher Moses, Policy Lead, Lowland Peat, Defra

Heather Perman, Programme Manager – Peatland Restoration, Scottish Government

Deborah Land, Peatland ACTION Project Manager - Delivery, NatureScot

Accurate information on the distribution and condition of peatlands is vital for informing effective restoration and conservation policy. Advances in hydrological monitoring, remote sensing, and data modelling are transforming the way we collect, analyse, and apply this knowledge. From AI-driven approaches to innovative sensor technologies, these tools promise greater efficiency, larger datasets, and deeper insights compared to traditional field methods — but they also bring new challenges and risks.

In this knowledge sharing session, experts from Natural England’s England Peat Map project and leading technology providers presented current innovations in peatland monitoring and mapping. We explored the opportunities and limitations of these approaches and discussed how they can complement established monitoring techniques to inform future peatland policy and practice.

A complementary field-based session took place at Ballynahone Bog SAC, Northern Ireland’s second largest intact lowland raised bog. Delegates rotated through three demonstration stations, gaining first-hand experience with a range of tools and techniques to assess peat and water table depth, as well as habitat condition using the Peat Bog Condition Matrix. Alongside technical demonstrations, the session highlighted the importance of linking field evidence with broader datasets and models.

Chair
Harriet Santon, Peatland Code Officer, IUCN UK Peatland Programme

Speakers

Kayleigh Smith, Regional Sales Manager (North UK), In-Situ Europe Ltd.

Marjolein Helder, CEO, Plant-e Ltd.

Chris Miller, Field Survey Manager, and Tom Hunt, Data Engagement Lead, England Peat Map, Natural England

Olga Tutubalina, Remote Sensing Senior Expert, Gentian Ltd.

Following up on the themes of the field trip to Garron Plateau on Day 2 of the conference, this knowledge sharing session showcased talks to ‘deep-dive’ the issue of small boundary habitats and their importance to the peatland mosaic. The session considered the threats to these systems and investigated how we might include these habitats in both restoration and land use planning. The recording will be of interest to those looking to deepen their knowledge of peatland mosaics and habitats and the interconnectedness of the landscape.

Speakers

Jessica Fìor-Berry, Policy Lead, IUCN UK Peatland Programme

Richard Lindsay, Peatland Consultant, Richard Lindsay Environment Arts and Letters

Iain Diack, Principal Specialist – Wetlands, Natural England

Shirley Clerkin, Project Manager, Tóchar Midlands Wetland Restoration, National Parks and Wildlife Service

Edward Adam, Monitoring Manager, South West Peatland Partnership

This workshop aimed to share knowledge, case studies and ways of working to highlight the environmental risks associated with the various wool products on the market. The session:

• Showcased what is being done to clarify and understand these risks.
• Demonstrated various ways that wool could be used and discussed whether it is a viable material in different formats, for peatland restoration.
• Discussed policy approaches and various blockers to wool being widely implemented. 

The workshop featured a series of presentations followed by a group discussion from practitioners and policy makers on what evidence gaps need filling, who can help who, and what can be done at a policy level to enable wool to reach the potential it has.

Speakers

Beth Thomas, Data and Evidence Manager, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Michelle Henley, Peatland ACTION Technical Coordinator, NatureScot

Hugh McLinden, District Conservation Officer, NPWS Wicklow

Lorna Kelly, Coordinator, Wicklow Uplands Council

Sinéad Grimes, Project Manager Dúlra Project, FORUM Connemara CLG

Roisin Grimes Donnelly, Ecologist, Terra Beo

Fabio Messori, PhD candidate, University of Cumbria

Jonny Robinson-Noades, Dartmoor Headwaters Officer, Dartmoor National Park Authority and South West Peatland Partnership 

Peatland restoration is rarely a straight path, and mistakes can be as instructive as successes. This interactive, practitioner-focused workshop invited participants to explore the challenges, setbacks, and unexpected outcomes encountered in peatland restoration projects across the UK.

The workshop explored case studies where things didn’t go to plan—examining what went wrong, why it happened, and how these hurdles were overcome. This was followed by open group discussions, where we shared our experiences and uncovered the hidden value of failure as a driver of innovation and resilience in restoration practice.

Chaired by Guaduneth Chico, Action Site Coordinator (WaterLANDS), National Parks and Wildlife Service (now Peatlands Specialist Officer, National Peatland Action Programme Wales)

Speakers

Aoife Greene, Assistant Principal Officer, National Parks and Wildlife Service

Simon Gray, Head of Peatland Recovery, Ulster Wildlife

Martin Clift, Peatland Programme Manager, RSPB NI

Morag Angus, South West Peatland Partnership Project Manager, South West Water

Tessa Levens, Peat Project Officer, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Ted Talbot, Programme Manager Conservation and Land Management, Moors for the Future Partnership

Chris Pembroke, Senior Conservation Works Officer, Moors for the Future Partnership

Creative expression is a uniquely powerful form of expression and engagement, and there are numerous practitioners and projects working with peat. However, there’s limited evidence that ecologists, academics, conservation officers, project managers and fund raisers working with peat are drawing on creative techniques to support and develop their work.

In this day-long workshop, delegates familiarised themselves with creative practice around peat, and considered how creative writing skills might inform their work in public engagement, evaluations, essays, marketing copy, report writing, etc. The objectives of the workshop were:

• to express the potential for creative practice around peat
• to provide models of existing practice
• to visit a site as a potential focus for creative practice
• to write creatively in response to the site visit
• to consider how creative skills might be applied within one’s own work
• to create a short downloadable resource available to all delegates.

Delivery team

Dr Anna Chilvers is a co-editor of The Book of Bogs. She is a writer and teacher with four novels published by Bluemoose Books. She has written a collection of short stories inspired by places in the Pennines, Legging It (Pennine Prospects, 2012) and is currently working on a non-fiction book about grief and loss of place.

Clare Shaw is a co-editor of The Book of Bogs. They have four poetry collections with Bloodaxe; their latest collection won a Northern Writer’s Award and was a Poetry Society Book of the Year 2022. Clare is a keen advocate for creative writing as a tool of social and personal change: their writing often engages with the intersections of ecology, resilience and social justice.

Johnny Turner is a bryologist with a special interest in Sphagnum and peatlands. He worked as a professional ecologist for many years and has published research on rare and threatened bryophytes and fungi. He currently works as a wildlife-friendly gardener, leads moss walks, consults on bryological matters and works on his creative non-fiction book about moss.

This Environment Agency-led topic deep dive explored the critical role of eco-hydrology in peatland restoration. Through a series of presentations, the session highlighted how understanding the underlying hydrology - from base flow and sediment runoff to water quality - is key to successful restoration planning and implementation. Drawing on case studies from across the UK, the session connected scientific insights with practical outcomes, emphasizing the link between hydrology and restoration targets, including implications for SSSI condition and development pressures.

The session brought together a range of voices to provide multidisciplinary perspectives. Attendees gained greater confidence in applying eco-hydrological guidelines and better appreciation of how understanding the water environment is fundamental to achieving healthy, functioning peatlands. The session aimed to foster shared learning across the UK and reinforce eco-hydrology as a foundation for informed restoration and land management decisions.

Speakers

Emma Taylor, Peatland Advisor, Environment Agency

Raymond Flynn, Reader in the School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast

Rosalind Tratt, Consultant Ecologist, Sheffield Wetland Ecologists

Iain Diack, Principal Specialist, Wetlands, Natural England

Hugh Cushnan, Technical Director at RPS

This topic deep dive explored the relationship between atmospheric pollutants and peatlands. Atmospheric pollutants are highly diverse and complex: they can be particulate or chemical in nature and they may be relatively localised or carried some distance in the atmosphere before deposition occurs during rainfall events. Peatlands are particularly vulnerable to atmospheric pollution, as they receive high levels of precipitation and occult precipitation. This session featured talks exploring the sources of atmospheric pollutants, their diverse impacts on peatlands, restoration techniques and challenges in areas impacted by atmospheric pollution, and policy options. 

Chaired by Renée Kerkvliet-Hermans, Peatland Code Manager, IUCN UK Peatland Programme

Speakers

Richard Fewster, Research Fellow, Queen’s University Belfast

Áine O’Reilly, Senior Scientific Officer, Northern Ireland Environment Agency

Matt Scott-Campbell, Partnership Manager, Moors for the Future Partnership

Kellie McEvoy, Policy Officer, Ulster Farmers’ Union

Stephanie Clokey, Peatland Officer, Ulster Farmers’ Union

Community-based natural resource management is based on the pillars of economic development, environmental conservation and community empowerment. This session showcased examples of community-centred peatland restoration in which communities are driving positive change in their local environment through bottom-up, democratic approaches to sustainable land management. We explored the following questions:

• What are the pros and cons of community-centred restoration projects?
• Do we have many projects of this nature in Ireland/UK?
• What examples are there of organisations facilitating this approach and how do we disseminate their work more widely?
• What can we learn from global examples?
• Is there appetite for this type of project?
• What are the barriers and enablers?
• What type of support (financial or technical) is required?

Chaired by Jane Akerman, Programme Manager, IUCN UK Peatland Programme

Speakers

Gary Goggins, Public Awareness Manager, National Parks and Wildlife Service / LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature

Colm Gabin, Farmer, Natura Communities Initiative

Garry Luttrell, Director, Abbeyleix Bog Project CLG

Michael Carroll, Chairperson of Environment and Sustainability Committee, Tullamore Lions Club

Zarah Finn, Executive Officer, National Parks and Wildlife Service

Led by the Environment Agency, this topic deep dive explored recent learning on water management in lowland agricultural peatlands across England and Ireland. With a focus on responding to the climate and biodiversity crises, the session highlighted how integrated hydrological management underpins more sustainable land uses, including cropping, grazing, rewetting, paludiculture, and nature restoration. Presentations shared findings from research and pilot projects, such as those supported by the Environment Agency’s Lowland Agricultural Peat (LAP) schemes, and initiatives in Ireland that align with similar goals.

The session profiled strategic approaches to managing water tables, assessed risks and benefits, and explored how to create more space for nature within productive landscapes. Discussions encouraged knowledge exchange between nations, with a view to identifying collaborative opportunities and shaping a future vision for lowland peat that balances environmental integrity with land use needs. Attendees left with a deeper understanding of the evidence base and greater confidence in making informed decisions on LAP land use and water management.

Chaired by Katharine Birdsall, Senior Peatland Advisor, Environment Agency

Speakers

Iain Detrey, Peatland Advisor, Environment Agency

Krystina Roope, Principal Hydroecologist, Jacobs UK Ltd.

Ross Morrison, Scientist, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Megan Ellershaw, Principal Officer Peatland Team, Natural England

Niall Ó Brolcháin, Researcher, University of Galway

Mike Longden, Peatland Programme Technical Lead, The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside

Doug McMillan, General Manager, Green Restoration Ireland Cooperative Society Ltd

Craig Bennett, CEO of the Wildlife Trusts, reflected on our event in the wake of the Labour Party's 2025 conference, and we presented the Inaugural Lindsay Peatland Conservation Award to one of the most influential and inspiring peatland champions in the world, Richard Lindsay.