Credit: © Natural England
Credit: © Natural England
Credit: © Natural England
Credit: © Tom Lowe
Credit: © Tom Lowe
History The Humberhead Peatlands, located in South Yorkshire, are part of the last remnants of a large wetland that occupied the floodplain of the Humberhead Levels thousands of years ago. The Humberhead Peatlands comprises Thorne, Hatfield, Goole, and Crowle Moors and are designated as National Nature Reserves. It represents the largest area of raised bog wilderness in lowland UK at 2,887 hectares in size. Threatened habitat Lowland raised bog is one of western Europe's rarest and most threatened habitats. Around 94% of this unique habitat has been destroyed or damaged in the UK. The Humberhead Peatlands is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for its habitat and an internationally important breeding site for the nocturnal, insect-feeding nightjar which was responsible for the area being declared as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Birds Directive. The two main sites, Thorne and Hatfield Moors, were both exploited for peat over many centuries. During the 20th century the integrity of the bog and its unique biodiversity were severely threatened by mechanised peat extraction and associated drainage. These activities finally ended in 2004 and provided the opportunity to restore the UK's largest area of degraded lowland raised bog. The Project In 2014 Natural England was successful in securing funding from the European Union's LIFE+ programme to help the restoration of the Humberhead Peatlands. This was matched with a small contribution from Natural England and £1.9 million from the Environment Agency, channelled through Doncaster East Internal Drainage Board, who are delivering complimentary works on Thorne Moors known as the Thorne Water Level Management Plan. The project called, That's LIFE - Restoring the Humberhead Peatlands (LIFE13NAT/UK/000451) was launched in July 2014 and will continue to at least June 2018. The LIFE+ Project will extend the area of peatbog habitat under active restoration and will help provide a long-term future for the rare plants, birds and insects that have evolved to live on this unique wetland habitat. The funding will be used to ensure that the peat across the 2,887 hectares of the area is wet enough so that wildlife, including birds such as the nightjar and hobby, and specialist plants including cotton grasses, bog mosses and wild cranberries, can thrive. The project will also research and monitor the bog's unique bird and insect populations which will help inform similar restoration projects elsewhere. The completion of the Project will leave a lasting legacy for UK's largest lowland raised bogs.
Restoring the Peatlands The aim of this project is to reverse the damage caused by commercial peat extraction and bring the site back into favourable condition by controlling the water levels at a suitable depth to help the growth of peat-forming vegetation, such as cotton grasses and Sphagnum mosses. A number of actions will be carried out over the life of the Project. These include:
Credit: © Natural England
Credit: © David Rogan
Credit: © Tom Lowe
Credit: © Tom Lowe
Partners The successful delivery of the LIFE+ Project is dependent on its partners.
Natural England
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Doncaster East Internal Drainage Board
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Thorne & Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum
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Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
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North Lincolnshire Council
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Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
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David Hargreaves Project Manager |
Dr Richard Smith Monitoring Officer (former) |
Amanda Lane Project Administrator (former) |
Mark Outhwaite Assistant Project Manager (former) |
Ed Brightman Assistant Project Manager (former) |
Helen Laycock Project Administrator |
Credit: © Natural England