Peat Bog Restoration in Scotland

This video highlights some of the methods of restoration that NatureScot has used on their National Nature Reserves (NNRs) to restore peatlands in Scotland.
This covers ditch blocking and damming techniques, peat depth surveys, livestock management on restoration sites, woodland management, particularly the regeneration of water tables, sphagnum mosses and other flora and fauna found on bogs. ©NatureScot

[@Salzblut]

In northern Germany, where I live, there's also quite a lot of fen ecosystems and raised peat bogs, all of them highly endangered by turf-cutting and also abandonment. Being a biology student, I really think it's important to preserve these rare ecosystems to provide for the highly specialized species that live there. Much respect to the conservation actvists in Scotland and thanks for the great video!

[@barbarahartley6448]

So reassuring to see these expert custodians of the world, doing their professional best to restore planet earth. A man passionate about his career and his mission to restore the peat.

[@bumblebee942]

Truly fascinating, thank you for the education.

[@scottlarue5304]

Awesome video very informative. Is it feasible to construct artificial bogs as a carbon sink for climate change?

[@Scudmaster11]

i know bogs are never talked about “because swamps shadows bogs” but bogs seem better than the other wetlands

[@michaelf4506]

Some intelligent work going on der

[@l2e9aL]

Any chance you know what the music is?

[@ransiriniattanayake6010]

Can someone suggest methods of alkaline fens restoration? They are also very valuable ecosystems

[@broomfieldsdual-sport]

I harvest peat moss in canada ontario. First day inside my head i thought about how this could throw wildlife out etc.. but everybody likes their garden every spring. But govnerment stoped from a certain point to protect it

[@PlasticpilingNinja]

Plastic Piling available from APE Plastic Piling

[@DallasLL]

Would beavers not be beneficial since they build better dams and great at controlling flood and erosion

[@wrightgregson9761]

was this, in the past, beaver country>

[@userenter8591]

Wow! I buy peat moss 2L=1Dollar

[@colinboyd9121]

How are you restoring an ecosystem by preventing the natural return of trees?

[@Ryan-yx9kz]

The trees aren’t natural they only grow there because people changed the hydrology ( how water flows through the area)

[@evanmcsharry1015]

@@Ryan-yx9kz I may be wrong but is it not the case that thousands of years ago before humans would have been on the bogland they would have been woodland. I think it's just a matter of what point in time do you want to restore the bogs back to.

[@Scudmaster11]

trees arnt native to bogs

[@Chernobog958]

@@evanmcsharry1015 Not really, what allows the bog to form in the first place is higher water level than is optimal for tree growth. The high acidity and low oxygen from plant decay allow for a buildup of peat. Bogs are better for long-term carbon storage because when a tree dies it will be decomposed and the carbon is released back in the atmosphere. A swamp goes through stages of development, eventually leading to raised bog which creates a mound. If trees can grow in a bog then that means that the water level is low enough that the peat is decomposing.

[@Traxxya]

Forests aren't the only valuable ecosystem in regards to carbon sinks, which most people tend to think of! One peat bog can hold much more carbon than a forest! There are many bugs and birds that use peat bogs to breed and hatch, as well as lots of different plants, besides trees, that grow there! Just as kelp forests and coral reefs are important for restoring the world, so too are peat bogs, grasslands, deserts, swamps/wetlands, rainforests, rivers, caves, and more! We would lose so much biodiversity if forests were the only thing that were important