Funding for peatland restoration

The Scottish Government has announced £1.7 million of funding for restoring Scotland's peatland landscape.

This is terrific news and is a sign that the message has been understood about the importance of peatland for carbon management, for agriculture, for biodiversity and sporting management.

The Moorland Forum's Peatland Working Group will be working with the Scottish Government, SNH, the IUCN UK Peatland Programme and other members of the Group, which extends beyond the Forum, to secure the best use for this funding.

Initiative for Carbon Accounting (ICARB)

The Initiative for Carbon Accounting (ICARB) is a group of academics, politicians and consultants working to create a set of transparent, consistent and accurate rules for Carbon Accounting.  See the ICARB website for more details of this rapidly expanding science.

ICARB aims to provide a forum for the development of a consensually agreed Language and Rule Book for Carbon Accounting that is relevant, complete, consistent, transparent and accurate and enables compatible approaches across sectors.

Wildfire Prevention Seminars in the Cairngorms

The Heather Trust is working with Michael Bruce (Firebreak Services Ltd & Glen Tanar Estate) to run two seminars on Wildfire Prevention for the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA).  The seminars, which will include a visit to nearby moorland, will take place on 13 November at the Gaskmore Hotel, Laggan, and on 22 November at Glen Tanar Estate.

Further details of the events, and how to apply for a place, are available in the flyers that can be downloaded from the CNPA website.   Although the seminars will be relevant to all parts of Scotland, and beyond, as these events are being funded through the Park, priority will be given to people from within the CNPA boundary.

Bog hopping by Drone

Unmanned aerial vehicles are being flown over peatland sites in the Yorkshire Dales to collect data and  create a detailed picture of the extent and severity of peatland degradation.

This sounds like a cost-effective way to generate detailed mapping of large areas and avoid the high cost of aerial photography from a light aircraft.

See the article in The Northern Echo for more information.

Accounting for CO2 emissions from peatlands

Photo: Norrie Russell, RSPB

IUCN has urged the UK government to account for CO2 emissions from peatlands.  A decision has to be made now if peatland rewetting is to be included in the UK national greenhouse gas accounting for the next Kyoto Protocol commitment period 2013-2017.

Electing to account for Wetland Drainage and Rewetting in national climate change targets could give extra impetus for Government spend on peatland rewetting and could pave the way for business funding through carbon markets.

I recommend the IUCN briefing as a way of gaining understanding of what is proposed and there is more detail available in the longer briefing that is linked from the first document.

Flow to the Future project clears the first hurdle

The funding application for the Flow to the Future project is over the first hurdle and has passed the first stage of the application for Lottery funding.  Under the project, seven square miles of peatlands may be restored in Caithness.  for more details see the BBC news article and the article in The Scotsman.

This is excellent news and an important step forward for everyone with an interest in making more of Scotland's 3 billion tonnes of peat.  The Peatland Working Group of the Moorland Forum will be delighted to support this initiative.

Welcome to Scotland's Rural College

Photo: SAC

Good-bye SAC and welcome to Scotland's Rural College, formed by the merger of Barony, Elmwood and Oatridge Colleges and SAC.  The new college will "deliver comprehensive skills, education and business support for Scotland’s land-based industries, founded on world class and sector-leading research, education and consultancy".

See the website for more details.