Roles

Landowners and managers: follow best practice in managing and restoring their areas of blanket bog for biodiversity

Wildlife conservation bodies: give advice and provide practical support in management of blanket bog.

Natural England: gives advice on blanket bog management and prevents damage to blanket bog in considering change of use applications.

Moors for the Future: undertakes blanket bog restoration and provides guidance to land owners and managers

Peak District National Park and Barnsley Council as planning authorities: set conditions in relevant planning applications to ensure that the biodiversity value of blanket bog are maintained and enhanced.

Voluntary groups and volunteers:

• help with blanket bog management;
• help with information about the condition of blanket bog and provide records of the wildlife in them.

Key objectives for blanket bog are to:

• Raise awareness of the importance of blanket bog for biodiversity.
• Review the extent and condition of blanket bog in Barnsley
• Positive conservation management for blanket bog sites in order to maintain their extent and bring them into favourable condition.
• Restoration of blanket bog habitat on areas that have dried out, become poor quality heath or grassland, or have been planted over, in order to extend blanket bog habitat in favourable condition.
• Collect and analyse records of populations and assemblages of wildlife species in blanket bog in Barnsley.

What is being done?

• Surveys of Blanket Bog areas for South Yorkshire Plant Atlas 2011
• Survey of Blanket Bog areas for Barnsley Breeding Bird Atlas 2011
• Survey of Western Moors LWS 2014
• Restoration of Blanket Bog habitat under Moors for the Future project
• Snailsden Moor: timber dams in gullies and 34 ha sphagnum, 2017
• Thurlstone Moors bare peat revegetation 2018/19
• …

Proposed actions

• Maintain inventory of Blanket Bog sites their status and ownership.
• Encourage landowners and tenants participation in conservation management including environmental schemes.
• Restoration of Blanket Bog habitat sites. Moors for the Future et al
• Work to achieve blanket bog sites in or approaching favourable condition.
• Monitor blanket bog sites for
• Mountain hare
• Common Lizard
• Curlew, Dunlin, Golden Plover.

Marking Progress

• Extent (sites/area) of blanket bog,
• Sites/area of blanket bog in favourable condition
• Sites/area of blanket bog in positive conservation management.

 Blanket Bog Actions