In the week that ‘peatbog’ won gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, our Peatlands campaign #MoorPeat went live. Kicking off the launch was a digital talk by Jenny Sharman from Yorkshire Peat Partnership (YPP) who returned to tell us the story of the restoration of three Yorkshire Dales moors that are close to her heart. From outlining the most likely causes of their degradation and decline, she also brought to stark life the consequences of this to the wildlife, carbon store, local flood risk and water quality, before aptly concluding with a video showing the huge steps forward in restoration and rewetting the YPP has made over recent years. You can watch the full talk on our YouTube channel. The video of the YPP restoration work is accessible here along with our supporter Gill Petrucci’s emotive poem about peatlands.
Concluding the week was our peatlands event, Peat and Poetry, which brought nature, history, science and poetry together along with 30 plus supporters. Jody Vallance of Moors for the Future highlighted the work which they have undertaken on Ilkley Moor and our Yorkshire Dales Review editor, Prue Harrison recited Beck Stone and Puddle Stone by Simon Armitage − two of the six Stanza Stones, sited on a route from Marsden in the South Pennines to Ilkley.
Our Membership and Events Officer, Victoria Benn said: “With our Peatlands campaign, #MoorPeat now live, Peat and Poetry – along with Jenny Sharman’s talk have given our members and supporters a thought provoking insight into the beauty and importance of Yorkshire’s peatlands, bringing to life the painstaking work involved in ‘slowing the flow’, i.e. keeping the water in the peat – which is vital for wildlife, water purity and of course, crucial for preventing the thousands of years of carbon stored in the peat being released into the atmosphere, which is what happens when peat dries out, degrades and breaks down.”
You can view our Peatlands policy here.
To get involved in some peatlands monitoring as a volunteer email: victoria.benn@friendsofthedales.org.uk
Featured image shows Prue Harrison and Beck Stone by Ian Harrison