Plants are key to peatland carbon sinks

The report in Eco-Business summarises the study carried out by researchers at Lancaster University that has been published in the journal Ecology Letters.  The study highlights the influence of vegetation on the amount of CO2 that is absorbed from the atmosphere.

Interestingly, if climate change increases the temperature, heather is thing to have not grass, as heather absorbs more CO2.

High Peak Moors - 50-year restoration plan

The National Trust has announced a 50-year programme of restoration for the High Peak moors.  See the BBC News report for more detail.

It is great to see the problems facing our peatland being grasped in this way.  As Patrick Begg comments in the BBC's report, it is no good scratching at the surface of this problem.  The ecology of our uplands, and peatland in particular, is slow to respond to management change.  If we want to achieve a given objective we need to agree what we want and then maintain a consistent approach over a period of many years and decades to achieve it.  A succession of 3-year initiatives will not achieve this.

The ability of estate managers to deliver continuity of management over periods that are measured in generations, or even in perpetuity in the case of the National Trust, is an essential component of planning for the future of the uplands.  This explains my wish to see better engagement of the land management community within the peatland debate.  See yesterday's output.

The leadership being shown by this project will help.  Well done the National Trust!

Peatland

Peat harvesting in Ireland

I spent much of last week in York at the conference "Investing in Peatlands: Partnership for a New Peatland Era" that was very well run by the IUCN UK Peatland Programme.  Congratulations to Clifton Bain, who was very ably assisted by Rea Cris.

One of the highlights was the launch of the Peatland Carbon Code by Richard Benyon, MP, the Defra Minister, who demonstrated that there is very clear support within Defra for the development of peatland management and restoration.  In his presentation, he even slipped in a reference to the work of The Heather Trust -  what a nice man!

The amount of momentum that is developing behind peatland management and restoration is impressive, and it is clear that our knowledge is increasing in leaps and bounds as a result of all the research that is taking place.  The overarching message is that looking after peatland better is essential.  In "international speak" we need to refer to peatland restoration, but in my mind a lot could be achieved by raising awareness of the value of our peatland asset and providing guidance about how to manage it appropriately.  If ways can be found to provide an additional income stream to land owners and managers to pay for the management work, something positive would happen. This is where I hope that the Peatland Carbon Code will come in.

In the meantime, my one concern from the conference, last week was the lack of engagement by landowners and managers.  An enormous amount of effort is going into researching peatland issues,  but  management improvements and restoration work are largely restricted to conservation bodies.  I believe that we need to be making greater effort to link to all landowners and managers of peatland. if these people can be motivated will start to make a difference.  At present, I feel that we are just nibbling round the edges of the problem.

The Heather Trust stands ready to help, but to do more than fire out blog posts, we need some funding.  In the meantime, one can only read with incredulity the reports coming out of the Republic of Ireland about the amount of peat that has been harvested by Bord na Mona to feed into their power stations.  On this side of the Irish Sea we are making every effort to salvage every last bit of peat, while across the water they are harvesting it by the shed load to convert into carbon dioxide.

The Irish approach to peatland management?

Bracken Control season moving towards a close

Photo: Wharfedale Observer

Under the terms of the Emergency Authorisation for the use of Asulam for bracken control, we passed the first expiry date on 16 September.  As a result of this, it is now no longer legal to sell, distribute or transfer asulam, but application can continue.  However, as bracken dies back, the effectiveness of application will reduce and application is not recommended if a significant portion of the leaves have started to turn yellow.  At this stage, the pathways to transfer the chemical to the rhizomes start to collapse.  The translocation of asulam into the rhizomes is the aim  of the exercise.

Users now have until the end of October to apply their stocks of asulam to bracken or if containers are unopened, they can be returned to suppliers.

It was good to see that Ilkley Moor is taking full advantage of the availability of asulam as shown in the article in The Wharfedale Observer.  It is a very positive sign that we have been able to secure the Emergency Authorisation for 2014 already, and I hope that this will allow plans to continue existing bracken control programmes to be drawn up early and also provide enough confidence for new programmes to be started.

Glastonbury founder backs FG's sky lantern campaign

See the article in the Farmer's Guardian.

I hope that this high profile support for a ban on sky lanterns means that we are making progress towards solving this problem and reducing the threat to stock and the chances of starting wildfires.

Wildfire 2013 ~ 22-23 October 2013

Wildfire 2013 is six weeks away

The conference will include international speakers, best practice studies, the latest research, great networking opportunities, themed site visits and exhibits. Plus the best of Welsh hospitality at the Vale Resort. I will even be saying a few words at the end!

The Programme
More details of the programme have now been released including additional speakers.  Wildfire 2013 will open with a session comparing risk management and mitigation strategies in New Zealand and Ireland, before an update from the Knowledge for Wildfire Project which will include a series of poster presentations from researchers.  The afternoon looks in more detail at the South Wales Valleys, including a field trip (see below) and a presentation from SWFRS on their holistic approach to wildfires.

The second day opens with a range of optional workshops, with a wide range of topics on environmental, operational and strategic issues. The final session looks at wildfire simulation and risk prediction and promises to be a stimulating way to wrap up Wildfire 2013.

Field Trip
The South Wales Valleys are well known for the frequency of wildfires and, during the field trip, we will be looking in detail at why this is, how it is managed and what techniques SWFRS use to minimise severity, including a demonstration of offensive burning.  Natural Resources Wales will host a visit to a forest which suffers frequent burns and provides a text book case study of wildfire risk at the rural/urban interface.

To Book
Go to the website where you will find full details of how to book online and the costs.  You can pay quickly and easily via debit or credit card but if you require an invoice for payment please call 01765 609355 or e-mail the Wildfire Team.

Wildfire 2013 - 22-23 October

Wildfire 2013 represents an opportunity for all those involved in the prevention of, and response to, wildfires to come together to share best practice, hear from researchers working on the subject and meet providers of wildfire related equipment and services.

There is still space for delegates, trade stands and sponsors. More details and booking information can be found here.

This year’s event will be held at The Vale Resort www.vale-hotel.com in the Vale of Glamorgan. 

I will be there and I hope to see you!

The Heather Trust in Pickering ~ 2nd October 2013

This last week has included a visit to Pickering, to set up for the AGM and the associated discussion meeting, that we are organising for 2nd October.  

The venue for the meeting is the White Swan Inn, at Pickering, which justifies attending the meeting on its own.  

The morning session will be a discussion meeting and a topic we will be focusing on will be the comparison between cutting and burning for managing heather.  It is an issue that has come to the fore recently and this year we are investigating whether enough use is made of cutting as an adjunct to burning.  There are those who swear that cutting or burning is the only way to manage heather, but I think there is a strong argument in favour of using the two techniques in conjunction.  Cutting can be used to develop a small scale mosaic of heather and this can have benefits for grouse.

In the afternoon, we will be visiting Goathland Moor and this promises to be an excellent visit as in adition to excellent examples of cutting and burning, the moor offers a little bit of everything: from grouse, through heather beetle, to the construction of ponds.  We will be circulating invitations, this coming week to people who are in range that we think might be interested in this gathering, but if anyone would like to pre-empt this, please let us know.

The AGM will take place back at the White Swan Inn after a well-earned cup of tea and the day's activities will conclude with a Board meeting.  There will be no shortage of entertainment, but it will be a good opportunity for the Trust to 'strut its stuff' in an area where we have not held our AGM before.

'No Silent Spring' in The Scotsman 24 August

The Scotsman picked up my letter to them that reflected my support for Adam Smith's article in the paper on 20 August.  See yesterday's Blog post.

Grouse moors can help diversity and the economy

Adam Smith is Director Scotland for Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust but he is also a Board Member of The Heather Trust.  He has been punching his weight in the pages of The Scotsman and I recommend his article to anyone with an interest in the management of our moorland and upland areas.

I support and endorse his views completely, which are at the core of The Heather Trust.

Balanced management of our moorlands and uplands is essential if we are to hold onto them as vibrant dynamic areas of the country that support society (through their natural (ecosystem) services), maintain their unique ranges of habitats and species, continue to underpin many cultural activities,  provide an income that supports the people and communities that live in these areas that in turn maintain the features that make these areas so attractive for visitors.  It is a complicated list of inter-related features and activities but, as Adam has pointed out, if we allow these areas to unravel, as has happened in parts of the UK, we are left with impoverished land that is denuded of all the features that make the areas so special.

It is far from being all bad news and there are many areas where sensitive management is delivering all the benefits I have outlined, but even in these exemplar areas there is room for improvement.  Adam has singled out Wales as a case study where it has gone wrong and I share his concerns.  This was why I was pleased to have been invited to contribute to an embryonic Moorland Initiative that the CLA is leading in Wales that is promoting the benefits that CLA members could bring to the uplands in Wales if they are given encouragement.  It is an issue that I will be pleased to support in an effort to reverse the decline of the Welsh moorlands and move away from the 'silent spring' state.

Grouse shooting is not for everyone, and it is not appropriate in all moorland areas, but where it does work it provides a focus for income generation and input that acts as a catalyst for activity that spins off to provide much wider benefits to the local area and to the habitats and species that live in these areas.

England: Defra unveils plans to move CAP money 'uphill'

See the article in today's Farmers Guardian.

Look for the comments about:

• The retention of the three-region system: 
• Lowland areas (i.e. land outside severely disadvantaged areas) 
• Severely disadvantaged areas, and
• Moorland
• The shift of funding away from the lowland areas into the other uphill areas; and
• The increase in the minimum claim size to 5 ha.

It would be boring if it was simple!

IUCN UK Peatland Programme - Conference

Investing in Peatlands: 
Partnership for a New Era

10^th – 12^th September 2013, York

We're pleased to annouce that our Key Note speaker will be Ian Dickie from Aldersgate Group.

If you haven't register yet, do so now! 

The latest 'Investing in Peatlands' Conference organised by the IUCN UK National Committee Peatland Programme is set for 10th -12th September 2013 at York University.

The fourth in the series of conferences, this year's theme is 'Partnership for a New Peatland Era' and will explore how the conservation, government and business sectors come together to meet the challenge of restoring a million hectares of peatlands through partnership approaches. The conference will highlight examples of good practice, identify barriers that still need to be broken down and highlight opportunities for taking forward partnership action both in the UK and internationally.

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For more up-to-date information about the conference programme please visit our website
http://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/news/230

To register for this event please click herehttp://tinyurl.com/pkobve3

Standard registration closing August 27th 2013

IF YOU WISH TO PAY BY INVOICE PLEASE NOTE THE DEADLINE FOR THIS IN MONDAY 19TH OF AUGUST, after this date you will have to register by credit card - Please get in touch for more details. 

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Poster session: Research and Partnerships for Peatland RestorationA poster session will run from 17:00 - 18:30 on 10th September on research and partnership for peatland restoration. To ensure high attendance and a relaxed atmosphere in which to connect with other delegates around your poster topic, a peatland themed guest beer will be provided at all delegates attending the session. Presenters are expected to be available to answer questions from delegates next to their posters for the duration of the poster session.

Submission: If you would like to present a poster, please submit your poster title when you register for the event. Posters will be screened for relevance (but will not be subject to a full review process). You should assume that your poster has been accepted for the event unless you are contacted to discuss concerns over relevance.

Wildfire 2013 - Conference August Newsletter

To Book Your Delegate Place and Conference Dinner ...
... go to our website at www.ruraldevelopment.org.uk/wildfire where you will find full details about how to book online and the costs. You can pay quickly and easily via debit or credit card but if you require an invoice for payment please call 01765 609355 or e-mail the Wildfire Team at wildfire@ruraldevelopment.org.uk. Don't forget to add the conference dinner to your booking - it will a great networking opportunity and great value for money!

The Venue
Don't forget to book your accommodation at the Vale Hotel - preferential rates only apply to bookings made before Tuesday, 27th August 2013 - just quote "WILDFIRE 2013".
Wildfire 2013 is taking place at the Vale Resort, Hensol, near Cardiff on Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd October 2013. As well as being an excellent conference venue it offers some of the best leisure and golf facilities in Europe. Contact the Vale and quote 'Wildfire 2013' to secure a preferential room rate of £75.00 (ex VAT). This offer lasts until 27th August.

Exhibitors
Wildfire 2013 is shaping up to have the largest display of wildfire related equipment and services to date. From vehicles to clothing, weather instruments to pumps, all will be on show at Wildfire 2013. Exhibitors booked to date include:

Ballyclare Ltd

CFM Services

Delta Fire Ltd

Fire Fogging Systems Ltd

Flamepro (UK) Ltd

Godiva Ltd

Hunter Apparel Solutions & Texport

LHD Group (UK) Ltd

Openhouse Products Ltd

South Cave Unimog

Speedings Ltd

Terberg DTS UK

Land Management Adviser Vacancy - LL&TNPA

Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Authority (what a mouthful of a name) is seeking a Land Management Adviser.

For details see the LL&TNPA (the acronym is not much better) website.

Wildfire Spanish style

And we think we have a problem with wildfire.  How's about this one in Spain?  Look at the resources that are deployed to tackle it - 550 firefighters backed by 17 water-carrying aircraft.

The threat to wildfire in this country is nothing like as extreme, at the moment, but that does not mean we should not be following the lead set by countries who have greater experience of wildfire: we need to plan and prepare for wildfire.  It is not 'if', it is 'when' it will happen.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/08/04/2749567/wildfire-rages-west-of-spains.html#storylink=cpy

New uplands academy offers support to next generation

I was pleased to learn about this new academy that aims to develop the next generation of upland farmers.  See the article in the Darlington & Stockton Times.

We need farmers to provide the management we all aspire to for the uplands. Without farming input upland habitats would quickly degenerate and all the infrastructure that we take for granted, walls/ dykes, paths, fences, gates would disappear.  To provide emphasis on the important role that stock have in shaping our uplands, I am fond of saying that the ultimate manager of moorland usually goes 'baa' or 'moo'.

The article includes a quote from Julia Aglionby, Director of the National Centre for the Uplands.  We are supporting the work of the Centre and the Trust's Annual Report, which will be published next week, includes an article about the Centre and a project (Better Outcomes for Upland Commons) that the Trust is contributing to.

Maintaining Ecosystems Services - its not just a nice thing to do....

Photo: 2020Vision

In explanation of the often vexed topic of the Ecosystem Services, 2020VISION's latest short film, commissioned by the Scottish Government for the Year of Natural Scotland, showcases Scotland's stunning wildlife and beautiful natural habitats.  The film introduces the concept of 'ecosystem thinking' and why we need to work together on a larger scale to protect Scotland's nature.  

Inspiring photography and video may lightly sugar-coat the topic, but the message is real.  We need to work on a larger scale and must include people.  "Great things can happen when people care."

Say no to Sky Lanterns

The Farmers Guardian has started a campaign to ban Sky Lanterns.  This follows the recent large fire in a recycling plant in the West Midlands.  This was reported to have been started by a sky lantern.  Numerous other incidents are mentioned in the Farmers Guardian article.

I think Defra has got this is one wrong and that it is time to reconsider the decision not to ban sky lanterns.  What do you think? 

The Farmers Guardian has established an e-petition so that you can add your weight to the demand for a ban.

Welsh Connections

The Trust has been rather quiet in Wales recently.  I regret this separation as I believe there are plenty of opportunities for the HT message to be beneficially applied in Wales, but as a result of two recent visits, I hope that this situation is about to change.

There has been a big upheaval in Wales with the establishment of a combined government agency called Natural Resources Wales (NRW) that has been formed from the Countryside Commission for Wales (CCW), and the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency in Wales.  This new organisation will no doubt take time to bed down but it provides an opportunity to reconsider the support for the Welsh uplands.  I hope that this will prove to be a turning point for an integrated approach to moorland management in Wales.

In response to the formation of NRW, the Country Land & Business Association (CLA) in Wales called together a group of landowners to consider how an approach to the Welsh Government could best be made to highlight the importance and value of the Welsh uplands.  I was pleased to attend this meeting, and I have offered support for any work that develops from it.

I have been maintaining a watching brief as a member of Upland Ecosystems Group (UEG) in Wales, but it has been hard to justify attending meetings as there has been no opportunities to develop any involvement.  However, I was able to attend a meeting of the UEG, last week, and this was combined with a workshop for a new project being run by the RSPB called North Wales Moors Futurescapes; this seeks to consider landscape scale conservation management across a large area of the uplands that include Ruabon Moor, the Berwyn Mountains, and moorland at  Migneint and Hiraethog.  I have suggested that some 'old fashioned' demonstration events that I champion for the Trust could be beneficial to being people together to discuss the issues.

I hope that these initiatives will serve to re-establish the Trust's presence in Wales and allow us to provide some  input that will help to improve the management of the Welsh uplands.

BBC News - Call to pay landowners to save peat

Photo: IUCN Peatland Programme

The article by Roger Harrabin published by the BBC yesterday is welcome for highlighting the importance of upland peatland as a store of carbon but his argument has gone astray in several places.

With other organisations I am working to promote peatland management, including restoration where appropriate, as an integral part of moorland management and to interpret the research for landowners. Many management and restoration schemes are in progress and many more are planned. Some of these are supported by public funds through agri-environment schemes, but others are being funded privately.

Defra is supporting a large amount of work to develop a system for trading carbon and this could provide some income to contribute to management and restoration costs.

The message is very positive. A diverse range of organisations, covering policy, research and land management, are working to develop structures that will lead to the improvement of the condition of our peatlands and place them at the centre of our management of the uplands, where they deserve to be. Issues remain to be resolved but with willingness on all sides these will be resolved.

Against this background of developing cooperation Roger Harrabin's article should be seen as an aberration. Perhaps he would like to publish a more accurate follow up story - there are plenty of people who would be willing to give him a rounded picture to work with.

For a more balanced view, see the article in today's Yorkshire Post.