Yorkshire's Wilder Peatlands

This webinar was recorded on Wednesday 19th January, 2022, and is presented by Dr Tim Thom, Peat Programme Manager, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Yorkshire’s peatlands are in a desperate state from centuries of abuse. They have been dug up, drained, trampled, grazed and burnt leaving a legacy of erosion and dried out peat lacking typical peatland vegetation. In this state our peatlands are no longer functioning as unique internationally important habitats that should be storing carbon, providing clean water and regulating flooding. Fortunately, help is at hand. The Yorkshire Peat Partnership, established in 2008, has been restoring Yorkshire’s peatlands by returning the natural hydrology of these climax habitats and re-establishing these unique habitats through cotton-grass and Sphagnum moss planting. Over a third of Yorkshire’s peatlands is now returning to wet, naturally functioning bog helping in our battle with the climate and biodiversity crisis. After a PhD looking at otters on the Tyne and postdoctoral work on fish migration, crayfish and basking sharks Dr Tim Thom spent 10 years as the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Senior Wildlife Conservation Officer where, in partnership with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust he established the Yorkshire Peat Partnership to try to tackle the long history of damage to Yorkshire’s upland peatlands. Tim transferred to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in 2013 and has been leading the Yorkshire Peat Partnership ever since. With over £20million of funds raised and over a third of Yorkshire’s peatlands now under restoration this is now one of Europe’s biggest and most successful habitat restoration projects. More needs to be done and Tim, in partnership with Moors for the Future and the North Pennines AONB has established the Great North Bog coalition to scale up restoration of the 92% of England’s peatlands in the north of England.