Peatland & wetland survey & management

WRc offers a range of services to support increasingly rare peat and wetland habitats

These habitats are important carbon sinks and home to a diverse and unique range of wildlife. Restoring these habitats is important for our planet’s future.

Peatlands

Peatlands are complex habitats that cover 3% of the world’s land mass, holding twice the amount of carbon of all the world’s forests. As it takes peat a long time to form, it cannot be recreated, but we can preserve and retain existing peat bogs and moors.

Knowledge and industry experience

WRc is a framework contractor on the Natural Resources Wales Peatland Restoration frameworks and is researching peatland restoration techniques through the Peat Fix Programme.

The natural function and process for reestablishing peatland

The UK has 13% of the world’s blanket bog, which supports managing our drinking water. It forms an essential part of UK flood management.

Peatland management planning
Map peatland profiles and interpolation
Natural erosion methods and soft engineering to re-wet bogs and stop erosion
Map carbon pathways

Removal of scrub and plantation forestry that would otherwise dry up the bog
Management of vegetation on the edges of peatland
Peat core sampling
Peat depth sampling
Revegetation of degraded peat
Creation of seasonal scrapes and areas of ephemeral habitat
Control invasive species

Wetlands

Over 90% of UK wetland habitat has been lost. Wetlands are important ecosystems that are home to an array of wildlife and act as major water filtration systems. Climate change, development, land reclamation and pollution pressures are impacting wetlands with 35% disappearing since 1970. 25% of wetland species also face extinction. In the last 300 years, 87% of the world’s wetlands have been lost. These important habitats are a carbon store and are home to wildlife, so it is crucial that wetlands are preserved and restored as much as possible.