Biology:Great North Bog
The Great North Bog is a large restoration initiative covering over 90%[1] of the upland peatland in the North of England.[2] It is a £200m project and aims to restore nearly 7,000 square kilometres of upland over 20 years.[3] It is a partnership between the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership, Yorkshire Peat Partnership and the Moors for the Future Partnership.[4] The area covers five national parks — the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Lake District and Northumberland.
Ecosystem recovery
Some of the peat is 8000 years old,[5] and it is thought that about half the peatland needs restoring, by work in the winter.[6] Much of these blanket bogs had been drained to graze sheep, this draining was subsidized in the 1950s and 1960s,[7] and raise grouse for shooting.[5] The land is currently managed by sheep farmers and landowners,[7] and is thought to be losing peat depth at 2.5 cm a year while regrowing at 1 cm per year.[7]
Flood control
Peat is now being washed away down deep channels and during storms the town of Otley is often flooded via the River Wharfe.[5] Studies indicate that restoring part of the peatland with stone, wood or coir dams greatly slowed peak water flow.[5]
Carbon capture
The peatlands currently store 400 million tonnes of carbon.[7] The project say that damaged peat in the area releases 3.7 million tonnes of carbon annually,[8] about 1% of UK greenhouse gas emissions.[7] The programme includes a restoration and conservation plan which will make a significant contribution to the UK’s carbon sequestration targets.[8][5]
References
- ↑ "The Great North Bog". https://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/345451/The-GNB-summary-vision.pdf.
- ↑ "The Great North Bog – The UK's Peatland Restoration Partnership" (in en-US). https://greatnorthbog.org.uk/.
- ↑ Spencer, Ben. "Revive the Great North Bog to help fix our climate crisis" (in en). The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/revive-the-great-north-bog-to-help-fix-our-climate-crisis-xkpbqbbz7.
- ↑ "Bogs, banks and bubble barriers: five great projects to protect nature" (in en). 2021-12-26. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/26/bogs-banks-and-bubble-barriers-five-great-projects-to-protect-nature-aoe.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "For peat's sake: the race is on to save Britain's disappearing moorland bogs" (in en). 2021-09-12. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/12/for-peats-sake-the-race-is-on-to-save-britains-disappearing-moorland-bogs.
- ↑ "Green Renewal – The Economics of Enhancing the Natural Environment". https://green-alliance.org.uk/resources/Green_renewal_WPI.pdf.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Ambitious plans aim to create a 'Great North Bog'" (in en). https://www.northernfarmer.co.uk/news/19220930.ambitious-plans-aim-create-great-north-bog/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hudspeth, Sarah (2021-11-10). "Great North Bog information session" (in en-GB). https://www.northpennines.org.uk/great-north-bog-virtual-peatland-pavilion/.
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