De-risking peatland restoration practice in Scotland / 9th IUCN UK Peatland Programme Conference

East Point Geo are working with Scottish Natural Heritage’s Peatland ACTION team on a risk-based protocol to ensure peatland restoration techniques applied to blanket bogs and raised bogs in Scotland do not have adverse effects on peat stability.

Dr Andy Mills spent a fruitful week reviewing restoration sites and landslide sites with Peatland ACTION officers from Caithness, through the Cairngorms to the Central Belt, viewing a range of restoration techniques. These included ground smoothing using low ground pressure excavators in areas of ‘forest to bog’ restoration, and peat and composite dams in open blanket bog. Andy provided field-based training on peat landslide morphology at a peat slide associated with artificial drains and a large bog burst that had failed into a loch in Caithness.

The early stages of this work and the intentions of the project were summarised in a joint SNH/EPG poster at the 9th IUCN UK Peatland Programme in Belfast, with the poster attracting plenty of attention from the numerous peatland specialists attending the conference.