The prize for innovation was presented to Stephen Corcoran, Cairngorms Peatland Action Restoration Officer, at the Nature of Scotland Awards ceremony in Edinburgh on 19th November.
The awards were launched by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 2012 to recognise excellence, innovation and outstanding nature conservation in Scotland.
Supported by Scottish Natural Heritage’s Peatland ACTION, work was carried out at Mar Estate, Glenlivet Estate and Invereshie & Inshriach NNR in the Cairngorms National Park. Led by Stephen Corcoran, the project worked closely with the land managers at each site and the specialist peatland contractors, Barker & Bland, from Cumbria to restore degraded peat habitat.
The innovative methods used in this project included restoring bare peat through the application of a living carpet of sphagnum mosses while eroded hags were re-profiled and re-vegetated using 8-ton excavators. A total of 367 hectares of degraded peatland was restored, including 35 kilometres of hags, 15km of drains and the equivalent of 24 football pitches of bare peat. The restoration work will see a reduction of 4,000 tons of CO2 emitted – this equates to the annual emissions of more than 800 houses.
Stephen Corcoran, who led the work said: “I am delighted to win this award for innovation. The new methods trialled at the three sites, including the highest in the UK at 840m, will be closely monitored for their effectiveness in the challenging climate of the Cairngorms and we are extending these methods to new sites.”
Pictures taken on Inshriach NNR & Mar Estate in the Cairngorms National Park: bare peat; re-vegetating the bare peat; after re-vegetation has taken place; restored hag.
