A peat bog restoration project has been launched in Cumbria.

The project, on Low Fell in the western Lake District, has been launched by Workington-based company Chimney Sheep, which sells wool draft excluders for chimneys.

The company is carrying out the project through its CIC, Buy Land Plant Trees, with support from Cumbria Wildlife Trust, as part of the charity’s Planting for Pollinators scheme.

Chimney Sheep said the project will see the implementation of several measures to re-wet depleted bog on Low Fell and start the process of long-term peat accumulation.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust said peat is hugely important to the environment acting as a carbon store, helping with flood mitigation, and creating habitats.

Low Fell’s peat land has declined over the years, the primary cause of which being the drainage cuts in the terrain of Crab Tree Beck Valley.

The cuts increased the flow of water through the land and reduced the boggy areas and washed the peat away, the trust said.

Chimney Sheep and Cumbria Wildlife Trust will be filling the cuts in the terrain with wool, sourced from neighbouring farms, stuffed into coffee sacks donated by Carvetti Coffee, with work starting this month.

The compostable sacks will act as a sponge, absorbing and slowing the flow of water, which will raise the water table at the top of Crab Tree Beck, causing the terrain to become boggier.

The bogland will enable sphagnum moss to grow and restore the peatland habitat in the long term.

Sally Phillips, director of Chimney Sheep, said: “Peat is extremely important to the environment but takes many years to form.

“The loss of peat through harvesting for horticulture and agriculture has been hugely damaging and could have further consequences if we don’t take action.

“Degraded UK peat land is responsible for around five per cent of the UK’s greenhouse has emissions.

“By retaining and establishing peat bogs we can not only help reduce our emissions but also start to capture the carbon that is being released into the environment in other forms.
“Peatlands also play an important role water management.

“Peat can hold up to 20 times its own weight in water which helps to regulate water flows, playing a key role in flood prevention. 

“In addition to this, peat bogs provide unique, natural habitats for many scarce species of flora and fauna that only survive in these wet, boggy habitats.  

“Although it will take a long time for the peat on Low Fell be restored, what we are doing is going to improve the locality for future generations. 

“We will also be working closely with Cumbria Wildlife Trust in this restoration project to increase the biodiversity of the area by planting more wildflowers and reintroducing native montane plants, like eared willow and tea-leafed willow, onto Low Fell.

“This will encourage now rare species of pollinating wildlife back to the area.”