Binnian Lough and Binnian Lamagan Col (Healthy Heathland Project)
Description
Binnian Lough has a 10 ha plateaux of eroding blanket bog with a network of 1-2 m deep gullies.
Project Aims
Rebuild heathland habitats and vegetation communities, and minimise peatland erosion.
Restoration Delivered
On Binnian Lough peat hags have been reprofiled and bare peat covered with geojute where necessary to allow the colonisation of vegetation. The gullies here have been blocked with coir rolls and stone dams to raise the water level and reactivate the degrading peat, retaining the silt and seed to revegetate the channels.
Similar materials and techniques have been deployed at Binnian Lamagan Col, with useful advice passed on from Moors for the Future Partnership, which potentially saved mistakes from being made.
Following the start of practical works in December 2016, revegetation is just starting to show, with an increase in target species including cotton grasses and Sphagnum mosses.
Project Name: Binnian Lough and Binnian Lamagan Col (Healthy Heathland Project)
Organisation / Lead partner: Mourne Mountains Landscape Partnership
Location: Binnian, Newry
Approximate area covered: 13 ha
Conservation Status: Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI – NI only)
Predominately: Upland
Peat Habitats: Blanket bog, Upland heath
Project Type: Restoration, Management, Research, Citizen science/ community engagement.
