The science of upland peatland restoration | WEBINAR

Hosted by the CIWEM East Midlands branch

Event description

The Moors for the Future Partnership, (MFFP), was established in 2003 to protect damaged blanket bog habitats across the Peak District and South Pennines. It provides evidence-based conservation, backed up by innovative public engagement. The Partnership has raised in the region of £50 million of public and private funding to deliver restoration over 35 square kilometres of bare and eroding peat and created 3 square kilometres of native clough woodlands.

In this webinar, there will be a brief overview of the conservation work being undertaken, followed by a review of the science and research conducted by the partnership.

Our first speaker is Joe Margetts who is one of the Senior Research and Monitoring Officers at the Moors for the Future Partnership. Joe will provide a brief overview of the conservation work of the partnership, followed by a look at the results from one of its long-term monitoring sites on Kinder Scout, in the Bamford Catchment. This will detail the impact that bare peat restoration techniques have had on water table, stream-flow andwater quality; and look at some of the knowledge gaps which we’re currently working to address.

Our final speaker, Alice Whittle is a second-year PhD student at the University of Derby, conducting industry-focused research in collaboration with two leading organisations in peatland restoration - Moors for the Future and Severn Trent Water. Her research is looking at the microbial responses to peatland restoration and how this links to the carbon dynamics of an upland blanket bog. Alice's area of study is the Combs Moss moorland about Buxton in Derbyshire. In this talk Alice will focus on whether aquatic carbon fluxes vary across different restoration approaches (bunding, gully blocking, plug plants and a control), specifically whether re-wetting a peatland can reduce these fluxes.

More information on the restoration work here can be found on Moors for the Future website.

Part of the CIWEM Climate Emergency Adaption and Resilience and Nature-based Solutions series.

Who should attend this webinar

• Those looking to widen their environmental knowledge
• Anybody interested in upland peatlands, moorland restoration, research into microbial communities in upland peatlands

Why should you attend this webinar

• Learn more about upland peatland and the work being done to restore them
• Discover the research being conducted to demonstrate the benefits of moorland restoration and the most effective techniques
• Gain CPD and develop your technical skills in this area
• Opportunities to network with like-minded professionals in the sector

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About the speakers

Joe Margetts | Senior Research and Monitoring Officers | Moors for the Future Partnership, MFFP

Joe is one of the Senior Research and Monitoring Officers at Moors for the Future Partnership. Since studying Environmental Conservation and Countryside Management, he has worked in the conservation sector for fifteen years, specialising in Peatland Conservation at MFFP for the last ten of these. His interests include the diversification of recovering peatland vegetation, and impacts on water flow and quality.

Alice Whittle | PhD student | University of Derby

Before beginning her PhD, Alice Whittle worked in industry for several years, most recently as a Specialist Advisor for the Welsh National Peatland Action Programme. Her academic background has been centred on peatland restoration, including the development of a UAV monitoring protocol for restoration with the North Pennines AONB Partnership as part of her Master of Research. Alice is passionate about fostering collaboration between academia and industry to address real-world environmental challenges.

Booking and joining information

This event is open to members and non-members of CIWEM. The webinar is hosted on the Zoom platform and will be recorded.

Please register your place by clicking on the registration button. Non-members who have not registered for the CIWEM system can create an account on the booking page in order to reserve their place. This should not take more than two minutes.

If you have any questions about your booking or would like to cancel your attendance, please contact branches@ciwem.org.

Please note that registrations will close at 09:00 on the day of the event. If you have not registered before that time, unfortunately we cannot add you to the event.

If you have any queries about this talk, please contact Laura Flower at laura.flower@severntrent.co.uk.