Welcome to the Exmoor Mire Restoration Project pages
Hydrological and Ecological Restoration of the Bogs of Exmoor
The Exmoor Mire Restoration Project, Restoration work, Future Work, Getting Involved, Information Links, Mire Research and Monitoring, Archaeological Surveys, Education Resources.
Introduction to Mires
Mires are peat accumulating habitats - such as Blanket bogs, Valley bogs and Fens. All of which occur in the Exmoor National Park. Blanket bog is the commonest mire type on Exmoor with over 30sq km present but it is a globally scarce habitat with a unique association of plants and animals; 20% of the total world Blanket bog area occurs in the UK. On Exmoor Blanket bog and peat covers the central moorland but it has been dried out by centuries of moorland reclamation, agricultural drainage and domestic peat-cutting. As a result it has lost many of the interesting plants, animals and birds and become dominated by moorland grasses.
The Exmoor Mire Restoration Project
Mire restoration on Exmoor with ditch blocking and water management techniques was initiated in 1998 with a pilot project which developed into the 2006 – 2010 Exmoor Mire Restoration Project. This was possible due to the involvement of a new partner, South West Water (SWW) and a greatly enhanced budget of £400,000 (thanks to the financial and in kind commitments from all the partners and SWW in particular). The project was managed by a dedicated project officer Dr. David Smith with overall control via a Steering Group, comprised of representatives from the five main partners:-
- Environment Agency (EA) (Devon Area)
- Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA)
- Natural England (NE) (formerly English Nature)
- South West Water Limited (SWW)
- English Heritage (EH)
Restoration work took place at 12 moorland locations on Exmoor. This includes ENPA owned moorland at Blackpitts, Exe Head and Long Holcombe, National Trust owned Moorland at Aldermans Barrow Allotment and on privately owned moorland at Verney's Allotment, Roostitchen, Broadmead, Squallacombe, Great Vintcombe, Codsend moor, Hangley Cleave and North Twitchen.
Mire Contractors at North Twitchen (March 2009)
In total 50km of ditch was blocked with over 4300 ditch blocks made from bales, wood and peat. This has resulted in the re-wetting of over 300 hectares of Moorland. The work on these sites was carried out by contractors and the ENPA Field Services team and has cost in the region of £175,000. The costs have been met from the Mire Project budget and Natural England's Agri-environment schemes (HLS, ESA) which have funded the capital works on the privately owned moorlands.
This funding for this project ended in the summer of 2010 and it has been succeeded by the new Exmoor Mires Project, which is led by South West Water and part of their wider Upstream Thinking initiative to improve the quality and quantity of water supply from catchments in the South West. For the full list of Upstream Thinking Projects go to http://www.southwestwater.co.uk/upstreamthinking.
Before and after pictures of Mire restoration (PDF, 1.8MB)
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
Find out more about The hydrology and restoration of damaged mires on Exmoor, the history of moorland drainage, peat cutting on Exmoorand the peat resources on Exmoor(PDF, 296KB)
Getting involved with the Mire project
Are you a land owner, a National Park resident or and interested visitor? To find out how to become involved with the Exmoor Mire Restoration Project contact: dmsmith@southwestwater.co.uk
Cattle grazing former peat cuttings at Blackpitts, blocked in 2007 with peat dams
The restoration so far has been on a small part of Exmoor’s dry and damaged moorland and there is at least another 2000ha which remains to be addressed. Failure to do so will result in further drying out and damage. Climate change is likely to increase this effect. 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.
Upstream Thinking, Mires-on-the-Moors and the new Exmoor Mires Project
From November 1st 2010 the new Exmoor Mires Project started work with the appointment of Dr. David Smith as acting Project Manager. This project is funded by the successful Mires-on-the-Moors and Upstream Thinking funding bids made in 2009 by South West Water to the Water Regulator (OFWAT).
The Upstream Thinking initiative: http://www.southwestwater.co.uk/upstreamthinking will be led by South West Water, with contributions in staff, time and resources from the other partners. The Mires-on-the-Moors Projects will be run by dedicated staff based in Project teams on Exmoor and Dartmoor. South West Water is the lead partner for the Exmoor Mires Project and Dartmoor National Park Authority is the lead for the Dartmoor Mires Project.
On Exmoor mapping of ditches and cuttings from old air-photographs has identified a possible 150 further damaged peatland sites, covering over 2,000ha. The first task for the new project is to contact the land-owners concerned and visit these sites on the ground to asses their restoration potential. If they are found to be suitable this is the first stage in negotiating a restoration plan with the land-owner and Natural England. The aim is to create a sustainable moorland management plan which rewards the land manager for looking after carbon and water resources, whilst continuing to support farming on the moorlands. In this way moorland restoration will result in real benefits for people and wildlife.
Link to Mire map (PDF, 1.86MB)
Mire Research and Monitoring The new project has also been asked by Ofwat to undertake research and monitoring on the hydrological and ecological effects of rewetting peatland. An extensive program of monitoring and research has been developed in partnership with Bristol and Exeter Universities and the Environment Agency. The first stage of this program is the launch of the hydrological plans: Exmoor Mires Hydrological monitoring plans document launched (PDF, 2.7MB)
This new research programme builds on the ecological and hydrological monitoring work the Exmoor Mire restoration project has been involved with since initiation in 1998. This monitoring was carried out by the Project Officer David Smith and the project partners in the Environment Agency, students from several Universities, local volunteers and independent contractors. The studies have focused on monitoring for changes in the hydrology and ecology of the sites resulting from the re-wetting work. These have included:
·Dipwell transects at Blackpitts and Exe head to monitor for water table changes
·Flow monitoring at Exe bridge, Exe head, Exe plain and Blackpitts
·Base line Vegetation transects at each restoration site. These are monitored for change following the restoration work
·Specialist wildlife base-lines and studies including moorland birds, invertebrates amphibians and reptiles.
·Methane production in mire sites
Mire project Archaeological walk-over surveys and palaeo-ecological surveys:
·The project has commissioned a series of Archaeological walk-over surveys in advance of the restoration works at a number of sites (funded by English Nature) In addition to this there are a number of watching brief reports also available.
·A palaeo-ecological study of the peat at Long Holcombe and Comerslade was commissioned by the project and funded by English Nature.
Education Resources
Visit a Mire project site. The Mire restoration areas at Aclands have been designated as educational access areas in English Nature's Higher level Environmental Stewardship Scheme. To visit the site with an educational group download the Aclands educational visit pack (PDF, 5MB) or contact dmsmith@southwestwater.co.uk.
EXMOOR MIRE RESTORATION PROJECT REVIEW summary and findings
In early 2010 The Project Steering Group commissioned an independent review of all the Mire project work on Exmoor. This was carried out by the Countryside and Community Research Institute and they have now completed their final report.
Countryside Community Research Institute final report (PDF, 1.6MB)
Executive Summary and the main recommendations (PDF, 92KB)
The Key Findings of the review team were:
Ditch blocking – The EMRP has developed a good understanding of ditch blocking techniques most appropriate to Exmoor. The EMRP almost doubled its original target for ditch blocking, blocking, 49,967 m of ditches on 12 sites, resulting in the restoration of 313 ha, exceeding the original target of 250 ha.
Biodiversity – Extensive vegetation monitoring by the EMRP has revealed that ditch blocking has successfully encouraged an increase in abundance and richness of plant species associated with wetter conditions. Aquatic invertebrates have also benefited from increased pools of water.
Hydrology – Limited resources and difficulties encountered with the hydrological monitoring equipment impacted on the quality of hydrological data obtained. Analysis of the dipwell data by the Project Officer and visual observations revealed a rise in the water table at Exe Head since 1998, with a less evident rise in the water table at Blackpitts. To date, changing flow patterns have not been analysed so the impact of ditch blocking on downstream flows is unclear. Lessons learnt from EMRP hydrological monitoring have been incorporated into a new and comprehensive hydrological monitoring plan for the Mires on the Moors project which has been reviewed and endorsed by UK academics.
Historic Environment - The actual extent of the impacts on the historic environment resulting from mire restoration activity is difficult to ascertain: to a great extent concern has been and continues to be about the potential for damage. Recommendations focused on the need to continue integrating the historic environment into all aspects of project activity.
Landscape - No major concerns about the long-term, landscape-scale impact of the project on the Exmoor moorland landscape were identified. A number of minor visual impacts, such loose bales in the water, were observed and should be avoided in the future.
Access – Project procedures are in place to consider recreational access issues on each proposed site. Some limited access restrictions for the hunt due to mire restoration were identified, but overall the impact on access for recreationalists was low. Landowners were concerned about public liability issues on mire restoration sites and required some legal clarification.
Agriculture - The impact of mire restoration on farm management varied: for some it improved grassland quality; for others it ran in conjunction with their agri-environment scheme and had little impact, whilst others saw it as reducing the long-term agricultural quality of their land with inadequate compensation. Some specific concerns related to possible hindrance to general farming access and stock checking and increases in ticks and liver fluke.
Communication - The EMRP achieved widespread promotional press coverage, but was less effective at communicating and engaging with the local community, resulting in some local concerns and misunderstandings about the project. Ideas for future potential communication mechanisms were proposed by stakeholders. Land managers appreciated the one-to-one approach adopted by the Project Officer.
Education - Educational outreach was not one of the original objectives of the EMRP, nevertheless the Project Officer has spent some time on educational visits in order to further the understanding of the project. At a national level the EMRP has contributed to the understanding of peatland restoration through presentations and national reports. More locally the educational impact has been limited and the review presents ideas as to how the educational benefits of the project can be enhanced.
Local community involvement – The EMRP has used volunteers to help with project activities and has focused on using local contractors to construct ditch blocks and cut bales, although there are relatively few contractors available locally to undertake this specialist work.
Governance and decision-making - some stakeholders felt excluded from the decision-making process and thought their views should be incorporated into the project. The proposed governance structure for the Mires on Moors project offers opportunities for more inclusive decision-making incorporating an Advisory Board of local representatives who will give strategic direction to the project and a Project Delivery Group with a responsibility for project management.
The Conclusions and Recommendations were:
The review concluded that the EMRP has achieved a substantial amount of ditch blocking on Exmoor within a short period. It suggested that lessons learnt from the EMRP will provide a firm basis on which to develop and implement the larger and more ambitious Mires on the Moors project. To provide guidance in the development of the new project, 49 recommendations were presented covering all aspects of project activity.