Wetlands and Peat Restoration Project
Tireragan is 625 hectares of naturally rewilding land on the southwest tip of the Ross of Mull. It was fenced off from livestock 25 years ago and as a result has a unique and impressive amount of biodiversity. (see www.tireragantrust.co.uk for photos) The Trust, a group of volunteers that manages the land, is embarking on a project to rewet an area of ancient peat bog and expand the associated wetlands by blocking drainage ditches. Peat is a very effective form of carbon storage and an area of actively growing peat sequesters as much carbon as a similar area of sitka spruce trees. By blocking drainage ditches we hope to reduce the erosion of the existing peat that such ditches cause as well as raise the water table. This will create improved conditions for further peat formation as well as expand the existing lochan and form new smaller pools. The resulting increase in wetland habitat should encourage such species as sundew, amphibians, dragonflies, wading birds, hen harrier, bog cotton and otter… more in the printed issue

Photo by Rutger Emmelkamp