Green light for grazing on important peatland sites

A project restoring seven areas of peatland has successfully installed an impressive 16km of fencing on key Welsh sites which will enable safe and sustainable grazing on 280 hectares of common land.

Grazing plays a key role in maintaining these landscapes by reducing the dominance of invasive vegetation that choke areas where important “bog building” mosses need to thrive and form the all-important peat.

The five-year, £5 million LIFEquake project, funded by EU LIFE and supported by Welsh Government is being delivered by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in partnership with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Eryri National Park and National Trust.

LIFEquake, focusses on transition mire and quaking bog habitats –so called because the ground literally ‘quakes’ underfoot.

4% of Wales is peatland which contains 30% of our land-based carbon, however 90% of Welsh peatland is in “unfavourable conservation status” meaning that harmful greenhouse gases are being released.

The LIFEquake project is delivering a range of different actions to restore the habitat in seven Special Areas of Conservation across Wales – Pembrokeshire’s sites include the North-West Pembrokeshire Commons near St Davids and Gweunydd Blaencleddau near Mynachlogddu.

Vicky Squire, LIFEquake project officer, Pembrokeshire said: Due to these sites being under-grazed over the years, a lot of the small but important peat-forming plants have been outcompeted by invasive vegetation and more dominant grasses.

“Grazing will improve the overall condition of the sites and provide a refuge for invertebrates such as moths, dragonflies, damselflies, and butterflies – most notably the marsh fritillary, a key indicator of healthy, functioning peatland.

Dowrog Common, a Pembrokeshire site managed by The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales is where the vast majority of the fencing has been installed.

Nathan Walton, Reserves Manager for Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales, said: The Wildlife Trust is extremely grateful for the LIFE funded project and this opportunity to work with partners, private landowners, and commoners.

“The new fencing and a better grazing regime will enable better management of the common through moving livestock around the area and promoting the growth of wildflowers of which we have 350 species recorded onsite.

LIFEquake is working with landowners, farmers and commoners to promote and enable sustainable grazing on all project sites.

Biodiversity

Mark Evans, local grazier and businessman said: We haven’t put cattle on this land for almost 40 years, but we’ve had the opportunity to fence-off 20 acres of moorland and we’re looking forward to grazing our cattle onto to hopefully increase the biodiversity of the local area.

Follow the peatland restoration story in Pembrokeshire and on other LIFEquake sites via the project social media channels ‘Life Quaking Bogs’ and on the project webpage Natural Resources Wales / LIFE Quaking Bogs