Raised Bog Restoration at Swarth Moor SSSI

Tender description

Raised Bog Restoration at Swarth Moor SSSI Swarth Moor SSSI is situated at Helwith Bridge, to the north of Settle in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. National Grid Reference for the site is SD806695. The SSSI has been extensively cut over for peat in the past. Although this no longer takes place the dome of the raised mire has been left with a very uneven surface. The lower-lying cuttings support the important bog vegetation, whilst the higher, dry peat between them is species-poor and now dominated by purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea. A raised mire should ideally have a dome with an even profile where the bog vegetation is present across the whole surface but at Swarth Moor extensive parts of the dome are without the characteristic peat-forming vegetation rich in bog mosses Sphagnum spp. Natural England proposes to restore the raised bog and also provide access and interpretation of the site for the local community and visitors through a project under the Heritage Lottery-funded Stories in Stone programme http://www.storiesinstone.org.uk/ Restoration of the raised bog vegetation communities will be achieved through the raising of water-levels by the construction of bunds that prevent lateral water loss from the peat body and off the site. This method has been used very successfully on sites in Cumbria with a similar history of peat-cutting (e.g. Roudsea Wood & Mosses NNR).