Tree mulchers help speed up restoration of ancient peat bog
Forestry England is restoring the unique Border Mires using special machines to rip down spruce planted in the post-war era which damaged the habitat.
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.
Now Forestry England is restoring the bogs using specially designed tree mulchers to rip down the spruce in seconds.
The machines’ wide tracks stop them sinking in the bog and their powerful cutting discs can turn trunks into chips, which are left in place to degrade.
Once an area is cleared, the drains will be blocked and the mire will be allowed to fill with water again.
While cutting down trees might seem to go against green thinking, bogs are great carbon stores.
Forestry England ecologist Wayne Penrose, who is overseeing the work on the ground, said: “These mires are incredibly important.
“Not only do they support a fantastic array of plants and animals, including sphagnum moss, bog asphodel, sundews, dragonflies and wading birds, but they also lock away carbon in the peat.
“Because of this they play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of climate change.
“We will also remove smaller spruce with chainsaws at three other locations, covering 161 hectares (398 acres), and blocking 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) of drainage channels so the land retains water, the lifeblood of a bog.”
Angus Lunn, vice-president of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said: “It is exactly 50 years since a group of Northumberland Wildlife Trust volunteers, armed with spades, installed the first peat dams in drains in the Border Mires.
“It is a great satisfaction that collectively we have accomplished so much over the years in what was the first major peatland restoration project in Britain.
The mires, 15m (49ft) deep in places, hold more liquid than Kielder Water, which is Europe’s largest man-made lake.
The Scottish cattle rustlers, often ex-soldiers disbanded following the Civil War, became known as “Moss Troopers”.
Such was their notoriety that legislation was introduced to curb their activities and they were also effectively excommunicated by the church.
