Page 2 - Border Mires News Today

A vertical mulcher machine is used to clear trees during the restoration of an ancient bog near Kielder Water in Northumberland. The ancient habitat, known as the Border Mires, is under threat from encroaching trees which are being removed as part of a A TIMBER harvester that chips a tree from top to bottom in just a few seconds is being used by Forestry England to speed up restoration of one of the UK’s most important peat habitats. The Border Mires is a network of 55 sphagnum bogs cover...

Machines that munch through trees in seconds are being used to speed up the restoration process in one of the UK’s most important peat habitats. Demand for timber in the post-war era saw spruce planted in the unique Border Mires network near Kielder Water in Northumberland, with drainage put in to help them grow. That dried out the nationally important sphagnum bog and the tree cover blocked out light in an environment where rare plant species should thrive. The mires, formed 12,000 years ago...

Nine-tonne mulcher clearing spruce to restore 12,000-year-old Northumberland peat bog

The Government must be more ambitious in protecting UK peatland or risk international embarrassment over its failure on climate action, wildlife campaigners said. UK peatlands hold three times as much carbon as woodlands, but in their current degraded state – with peat damaged, drained, extracted or burned – they release 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, some 5% of the UK’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, the Wildlife Trusts said. Peatlands are also a precious wildlife habitat,...