The European Union’s LIFE+ programme has awarded Natural England a grant of £2.5 million for the Cumbrian Bogs LIFE+ project.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Natural England have provided an additional 50% of match funding.
The project team is now in place and Natural England’s National Nature Reserve managers and specialist staff will also be supporting the project. The first meeting of the project steering group was held in November 2014 which included representatives from Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Environment Agency, RSPB as well as Natural England.
The funding will be used over 5 years to:
- restore 507 hectares of damaged lowland raised bog within 3 sites in Cumbria:
- use the sites to demonstrate a range of restoration techniques to managers of similar habitats and to wider audiences
- monitor the recovery process and share best practice guidance about the restoration techniques
- raise awareness about the importance and value of the sites and lowland raised bog habitats
Lowland raised bogs are one of the one of the rarest wildlife habitats in the world - the habitat is important for biodiversity and for its critical role in carbon storage.
All the sites in the project - Bolton Fell Moss Site of Community Importance, South Solway Mosses Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Roudsea Wood and Mosses SAC - have been damaged by:
- land drainage for agriculture
- invasive species
- peat extraction
- woodland
- scrub invasion
Work has already begun at Roudsea Woods and Mosses to use earthworks to rewet the bog and clear scrub, trees and rhododendron.
Work is currently underway to issue a European tender framework for all contracts which will contribute to restoring the bogs. This is on schedule to be in place by end of March 2015.
Work to prepare site management plans for Bolton Fell Moss and Roudsea Woods and Mosses will also begin shortly.
For further information about the project, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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