South West Peatland Partnership

In 2024 our band of brilliant volunteers played a vital role in helping SWPP monitor our impact, care for newly-planted saplings and maintain access routes across the moor. To learn more about volunteering in 2025 out on the peatlands of Cornwall, Dartmoor and Exmoor, take a look here: https://lnkd.in/eXNk5Eyn

Thank you all for following along with our work in 2024! It's brilliant to share our day-to-day with you all whilst we work to restore degrading peatland across Exmoor, Dartmoor and Cornwall. We've lots of exciting news and ambitious plans to share in 2025 and beyond as we make a positive difference to these spaces for wildlife, water, people and the planet. Thanks as always to the funders, staff-hosters, volunteers, contractors, landowners, farmers, local authorities, interest groups, press & media, and crucial partner organisations we work with all year round who together make this happen.

👏 Happy Friday news! Congratulations to South West Peatland Partnership on another well-deserved award in recognition of their holistic and inclusive approach to landscape-scale habitat restoration. SWPP have not only made a huge impact in the south-west of England, but are always willing to exchange knowledge and experience across the UK with other #peatland partnerships. They are also valued supporters of the work of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. See if you can spot Programme Manager Jane Akerman wobbling after Morag Angus and David Smith on Bodmin Moor! #Partnerships #Sustainability #PeatlandsMatter Cornwall Sustainability Awards

“We’re absolutely overjoyed to have our peatland restoration work so highly recognised at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards, and are particularly pleased that the judges recognised the efforts we make to ensure the work is delivered in a holistic manner.” Read more about the South West Peatland Partnership's win at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards, ending the year on a massive high for our dedicated and brilliant team, partners, funders, contractors and volunteers, and championing our undervalued yet essential peatland landscapes. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/e_b2ZpS9 SWPP is funded by Natural England #SouthWestWater #DuchyOfCornwall National Trust Cornwall Council Environment Agency and is a collective working together to make a hugely positive difference to the future of our regional peatlands.

What better way to celebrate #WorldSoilDay than bouncing across a soggy bog with #peat beneath your feet? Our Programme Manager Jane Akerman visited Crowdy Marsh on Bodmin Moor with staff and volunteers from South West Peatland Partnership. This important transition mire is a SSSI and SAC sandwiched between plantation forestry, a reservoir and grazed common land, presenting significant challenges for long-term restoration. Despite these surrounding land uses, it was great to see a recovering landscape of #Sphagnum, butterwort, bog pools and snipe, and to learn about the long and varied cultural heritage connected to the peatland. And what could be more British than a soggy mince pie in driving rain and wind?

Why is a Farm Officer like Eve an essential part of our team? In her blog reflecting back on October out on the moors of the UK's South West, Eve explores how her role bridges the gap between farming practices, peatland restoration techniques, collaborative research and new monitoring approaches. https://lnkd.in/eB-Mvmn4 #farming #sustainablefarming #dartmoor #exmoor #peatlandrestoration #farmofficer #farmadvisor SWPP is funded by Natural England South West Water #DuchyOfCornwall National Trust Cornwall Council Environment Agency and with staff hosted by SWW, NT, Dartmoor National Park Authority. SWPP is a collective of 20+ organisations working with landowners, commoners, farmers, volunteers, contractors & interest groups to make a positive difference to the future of our local peatlands.

Earlier this month, a team of graduates from our Exeter office continued our volunteering efforts with the South West Peatland Partnership in another key area of Dartmoor. Our graduates helped check up on saplings that have been planted, removed tree guards that protect from wind and grazing once the trees are established, and cleared other vegetation from dominating the saplings as they take hold. Find out more about their efforts here: https://lnkd.in/e7wSp8nV #Volunteering #Environment #Dartmoor #PeatlandRestoration 

Brilliant to have the support of IUCN UK Peatland Programme for this key part of our monitoring programme 😊

"Peatlands play an important global role, far beyond what their size might suggest. Covering just 3% of our Earth’s surface, these dense, ancient ecosystems have a profound impact on our planet, storing more carbon than all the world’s forests combined. Peatlands are not only essential for climate change mitigation, they also play a vital role in regulating and purifying water for human consumption, wildlife habitats, and socio-economic development. These rich ecosystems act as safe havens for rare and threatened species of flora and fauna that support local livelihoods. Furthermore, peatlands serve as natural archives of archaeological and cultural heritage." Global Peatland Hotspot Atlas: The State of the World’s Peatlands in Maps 2024, released last week helps to put forward the global context of SWPP's work here in the UK's South West. A reminder of the importance of evidence-based peatland restoration action worldwide, and the huge momentum that we are part of for these vital, yet overlooked, ecosystems. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eBfuiriR Image description: An area of recent SWPP restoration interventions holding back water in the landscape in the late November sunshine, Dartmoor #Peatland #PeatlandRestoration #UNEP #GlobalPeatlandHotspotAtlas #LandscapeRestoration

A year on after finishing work out at Ockerton Court on Dartmoor with the South West Peatland Partnership, seeing all the water being held in the landscape and the pools beginning to fill with sphagnum mosses, was just fantastic food for the soul. The blanket bog is now on the right trajectory to becoming fully functioning. #peatlandrestoration #dartmoor