Conservation project to restore blanket bogs in Ireland and Scotland

Thousands of acres of blanket bog are to be restored across the island of Ireland and Scotland. European Union funding is going towards the five-year Co-operation Across Borders for Biodiversity (CABB) project, which is worth 4.9 million euro (£4.3 million) and is managed by the SEUPB (Special EU Programmes Body). It is being delivered through a partnership between RSPB Scotland, RSPB NI, BirdWatch Ireland, Butterfly Conservation, Northern Ireland Water and Moors for the Future. 

The aim is to restore 2,228 hectares of blanket bog improving habitats for species including hen harriers, curlews and cuckoos as well as plants such as marsh saxifrage and Irish lady's-tresses orchids. Blanket bogs are areas of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evaporation and plant transpiration. Some blanket bogs are already preserved as this habitat is now seen to be under threat.