Waun Ddu, Llangattock (New LIFE for Welsh Raised Bogs)

The LIFE Welsh Raised Bogs project will help seven of the most important raised bogs in Wales become even better places for wildlife. What’s special about raised bogs? Raised bogs might look barren, but did you know they are great for the environment, wildlife and people? They: • give a home to rare plants and wildlife • store carbon from the atmosphere • store and purify water • give a fascinating insight into our environmental history • offer great places to visit and enjoy nature at its best. Waun Ddu is one of seven sites that will undergo restoration work. Restoration work will also take place at Cors Caron and Cors Fochno National Nature Reserves (NNRs), and bogs near Trawsfynydd, Fishguard, Crosshands and Builth Wells. This work has been funded by an EU LIFE programme grant and Natural Resources Wales, with support from Welsh Government and the Snowdonia National Park Authority. (LIFE16 NAT/UK/000646).

Waun Ddu raised bog is unique as it has an intact lagg fen stream around the perimeter - a ‘halo’ around the bog absorbing nutrients from the surrounding land. Most raised bogs in the UK no longer have this intact.

With the help of local communities, landowners and contractors, the project is monitoring water levels and important plants on this site. This will help us to plan restoration work here in the future.