Moors for the Future: Ten years of restoration monitoring Rachael Maskill

The Moors for the Future (MFTF) Partnership works in the and South to restore biodiversity and hydrological integrity of degraded blanket bog, targeting bare peat as a priority. Since 2003 we have carried out works on over 8.6km2 of . MFTF have published several reports over the last ten years—many of which are freely available on our website. We continue to expand on these with new monitoring projects. In order to further our understanding of blanket bog habitats and the impact our conservation works have on them, we have established extensive monitoring programmes covering a range of ecosystem services including water quality, flood risk, recreational value and biodiversity.

Research and Monitoring Reports 2004

 Breeding Bird Survey of the Peak District

2005

 Understanding Gully Blocking in Deep Peat

 Increasing Water Supplies for Fighting Moorland Fires

 Moors for All

2006

 Analysis of Moorland Breeding Bird Distribution and Change in the Peak District

Sykes Moor on —first treated in 2003 (top)  Recreation and Visitor Attitudes in the Peak District Moorlands has been monitored for its tenth year in 2013  Conservation Heritage Assessment of Burbage (bottom). Recent data, gathered as part of the Moor- 60 50

40 LIFE project, shows that Sykes Moor has seven of the TN 2009 BC 30 MBC PE JNCC’s indicator species for blanket bog habitats, in- 20

 DOCconcentration (mg/l) Sphagnum in the Peak District: current status and potential for resto- 10 cluding common heather, common cottongrass,

ration 0

03/11/2011 17/11/2011 01/12/2011 15/12/2011 29/12/2011 12/01/2012 26/01/2012 09/02/2012 23/02/2012 08/03/2012 22/03/2012 05/04/2012 19/04/2012 03/05/2012 17/05/2012 31/05/2012 14/06/2012 28/06/2012 12/07/2012 26/07/2012 09/08/2012 23/08/2012 06/09/2012 20/09/2012 04/10/2012 18/10/2012 01/11/2012 15/11/2012 29/11/2012 13/12/2012 27/12/2012 10/01/2013 24/01/2013 hare’s-tail cottongrass, cloudberry, bilberry, crowber- 20/10/2011 ry and feather mosses.  Water Tables in Peak District Blanket Peatlands Water quality monitoring in several of our 2010 monitoring projects, with a particular focus on DOC, colour, and heavy metals.  Sphagnum re-introduction project: A report on research into the re- Peat depth surveys un- introduction of Sphagnum mosses to degraded moorland.

100 dertaken at a catchment 90 80 SGE1 - before 70 scale has provided valu- SGE2 - before 2012 60 SIF1 - before SIF2 - before 50 SGE1 - after able information on the 40 SGE2 - after SIF1 - after  30 Land Cover and management activities across moorlands in the Bam- SIF2 - after blanket peat across cumulative frequency Percent 20 ford Water Treatment Works Catchment and their implications for wa- 10 0 many restoration areas -1 99 199 299 399 499 599 699 799 899 999 ter colour and run-off Water table depth (mm) (left)  Kinder ‘Peatlands for the Future’ Project Monitoring Report

2013

 Spatial variation in water quality within the water bodies of a Peak District catchment and the contribution of moorland condition

 MoorLIFE: Active Blanket Bog Restoration in the , Monitoring Programme—Mid-term Report Water flow and water table monitoring is undertak-  Moors for the Future Partnerships restoration methods for restoring en across a number of restoration sites, looking at bare peat in the SAC: evidence-based recommenda- The South Pennines Geonetwork provides a online the effect of revegetation and gully blocking on the tions platform for sharing information on data collected in hydrology of the sites. the area. (above)  Vegetation recovery on bare peat after restoration intervention: an analysis of nine years of monitoring data in the moorlands (2003—2012). Many of our publications are available to view online. We welcome enquiries regarding recent and current work, and collaborations are welcome. Contact us www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk T: 01629 816581 or at [email protected]