The Marches Mosses in Shropshire
Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England and Natural Resources Wales have been working to restore 665 hectares of the Marches Mosses during the 5 year project.
In the Welsh Marches, on the Shropshire border, sits a huge peatbog. Known locally as Mosses, these peatlands have been dug for peat for centuries. Now we recognise they can, and must, be home to beautifully adapted wildlife and a store of carbon far better than any forest.
We have treated our peatbogs badly, trying to drain and destroy them – ours even had a scrapyard on it! But now we are restoring them. Once again, they hold water as novel engineering techniques are employed. Forests have been felled, allowing the vital sphagnum mosses to grow. Even the scrapyard has vanished, and nature is rapidly reclaiming it.
A network of wetlands is re-emerging, allowing dragonflies, hobbies, short-eared owls and weird insectivorous plants to flourish.
Meathop Moss nature reserve, Cumbria Wildlife Trust