Welcome to the Exmoor Mire Restoration Project pages

Hydrological and ecological restoration of the bogs of Exmoor

Mires are peatland habitats - Blanket bogs, Valley bogs and Fens all occur in the Exmoor National Park. Exmoor’s Blanket bog has been dried out by centuries of moorland reclamation, agricultural drainage and domestic peat-cutting.

Find out more about the history of moorland drainage and peat cutting on Exmoor

Find out more about the peat resources on Exmoor

     

Left picture. Peat cuttings and drainage ditches in blanket peat at Blackpitts © R. Wilson-North / ENPA

Right picture. Typical Exmoor blanket bog at Blackpitts © J. Sabel / ENPA

The Mire project is re-wetting and restoring these interesting and valuable wildlife areas by ditch blocking and water management. Since initiation in 1998 as a pilot it has developed into the current 3 year (July 2006 – Jan 2008) project. This was possible due to the involvement of a new partner, South West Water (SWW) and a greatly enhanced budget of £256,000 (thanks to the financial and in kind commitments from all the partners and SWW in particular). The project is managed by a dedicated project officer Dr. David Smith with overall control via a Steering Group, comprised of representatives from the four main partners (and shortly to be joined by a representative from English Heritage):-

• Environment Agency (EA) (Devon Area)
• Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA)
• Natural England (NE) (formerly English Nature)
• South West Water Limited (SWW)

The 3 year project has now passed its mid-way (18 month) point and restoration work has taken place at 7 moorland locations on Exmoor. Three of these were ENPA owned moorland at Blackpitts and Exe Head. The other 4 locations were on privately owned moorland at Roostitchen, Broadmead, Squallacombe and Hangley Cleave. In total 17km of ditch has been blocked so far with bales and over 1000 dams made from wood and peat. This has resulted in the re-wetting of over 130 hectares of Moorland.  The work on these sites has been carried out by contractors and the ENPA Field Services team and has cost in the region of £80,000. The restoration costs have been met from the Mire Project budget and the Exmoor Environmental Sensitive Area (ESA) scheme which has funded 80% of the capital works on the privately owned moorlands. This arrangement with Natural England has saved nearly £50,000 of the project budget for further works.

The restoration so far has been on a small part of Exmoor’s dry and damaged moorland (130 ha) and there is a vast amount which remains to be addressed. Failure to do so will result in further drying out and damage. This will continue to cause:

• loss of SSSI wetland habitat and associated BAP species
• degradation of the peat and loss of carbon into the atmosphere
• drying out of archaeology and palaeo-ecology on the moors
• damage to moorland river hydrology and ecology with associated problems of erosion, drying out in summer, flooding  and loss of key species and diversity.

There are 7 more planned restoration sites to complete by June 2009. In addition to this the project has identified a further 25 damaged peatland sites across Exmoor where hydrological restoration would be beneficial to the moorland.

Climate change is likely to increase the degradation of peatlands in the South West region. In order to address this problem the Mire Project Partners have been exploring ways of funding further phases of hydrological restoration work. This has been led by SWW and has centred on a joint South West partnership bid with Dartmoor.

Follow this link to more pictures of Exmoor blanket bog restoration (PDF, 1.3MB)

The many benefits of The Exmoor Mire Restoration Project include:

• Fighting global warming and climate change Worldwide peatlands are huge carbon stores, but damaged areas release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere through oxidation processes. Restoration halts oxidation and promotes active peat growth thus increasing the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. The restoration of peatlands could play a major role in mitigating against atmospheric CO2 rises. Calculate your carbon use and see how much can be offset in mire restoration and other projects
• Restoring important habitats Mire restoration will improve the ecological condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s) benefiting wildlife in the moorlands and the wider Exmoor area. This will help to achieve targets set by Government for the improvement of SSSI condition and for the conservation of habitats and species identified in The Exmoor Biodiversity Action Plan
• Re-establishment of natural stream hydrology in Exmoor headwaters Encouraging water retention in the upland wetlands will delay and weaken peak river flows while augmenting low base flows at times of low rainfall.
• River environment and aquatic ecology improvement Re-establishing natural flow regimes improves water quality benefiting all river life including salmon and trout which are common in Exmoor river headwaters. More on how the Environment Agency is working to look after our aquatic environment

What is blanket bog?

A globally scarce habitat that occurs in the highest parts of Exmoor

Blanket bog worldwide distribution (marked in red on map) with typical blanket bog species Sundew, Sphagnum moss and Bog Asphodel

© J. Sabel ENPA /SNH / D. Udall PDNPA

Current news

Exmoor Mire Restoration Project –mid project report. Read the full progress report here  (PDF, 5.3MB)

Getting involved with the Mire project

Are you a land owner, a National Park resident or and interested visitor? Click on the link above to find out how you can become involved with the Exmoor Mire Restoration Project or contact: DMSmith@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk