Flanders Moss, NNR
Last week we helped host an informal discussion on the management and contribution the reserve makes to combating climate change along with key speakers from the deer management team on their collaborative approach on and around the Moss to our Senior Leadership Team and Board members of Scottish Natural Heritage.
Looking back on what we have done over the years in restoring the bog and improving public access we have done pretty well ….. I would even say we have done extremely well in bringing the bog to the people, helping people access the bog, locking up boat-loads of carbon and providing natural flood risk management in an area of high flooding risk… but I wouldn’t like to blow our own trumpet too much.
To put some of this into context we have:
- Removed 40 ha of conifer plantation
- Removed 100’s of ha of scrub on the moss surface (never ending battle)
- Dammed about 30 km of ditches (blocked a major outflow)
- 25 ha of stump flipping
- Recreated 2.5 km Lagg fen.
NNRs can also provide excellent opportunities for scientific study and research both because they are home to rare and important natural features but also because they are subject to consistent and well documented management. Encouraging research on NNRs is a good thing – for the staff who manage the sites, for students, academics, authors and researchers – and we do just that on our NNRs.
One thing that we have been working on is trying to get a better understanding of just how many research projects Flanders Moss has actually helped support over the years. So far we have managed to source 93 reports that have been done over 28 years! So if my maths is correct we help on average at least 3 study/researchers a year just at Flanders moss.
No trumpet blown here………….
2 bogs, a swamp and some islands 