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Joint British Ecological Society and
IUCN UK Peatland Programme Symposium 2012
Investing in Peatlands - Demonstrating Success
Bangor University, UK
26 - 28 June 2012
Optional Fieldtrips
Our generous sponsors have organised a range of fieldtrips for you to look at restoration in action and to discuss science-policy links on site. These are optional and MUST be booked in advance when you register for the symposium. Each fieldtrip costs just £8 and includes lunch.
There will be one trip on Tuesday morning directly before the start of scientific proceedings and three directly following the close of scientific proceedings on Thursday. Thursday fieldtrips will finish in time for 16.02 train from Bangor.
OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT AND WELLINGTON BOOTS OR WALKING BOOTS ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL FIELDTRIPS.
Tuesday
LLYN PENINSULA FIELDTRIP
***THIS FIELDTRIP IS NOW FULLY BOOKED***
This will visit Cors Geirch on the Llyn Peninsula (North West Wales), one of the largest surviving calcareous fen systems in western Britain and the core of the Llyn Fens Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Cors Geirch supports important areas of alkaline and calcareous fen and sits in a wide valley, fed by spring inputs from glacial drift deposits now under intensive agricultural management. The visit will include one of the major restoration locations at this site where turf stripping was used in 1993 on a large scale to remove surface nutrients and restore surface-wet spring fed conditions to formerly agriculturally improved surfaces.
The site visit will examine the issues surrounding the conservation of oligotrophic rich fens in intensively managed agricultural catchments. Visit a section of Cors Geirch fen that was restored in 1993 when 30cm of enriched topsoil and peat was removed. The site was previously agriculturally improved with less than 5 fen plant species, within 5 years species richness was improved to over 100 plant species.
The fieldtrip is organised and sponsored by Anglesey and Llyn Fens LIFE Project.
A companion trip would be Thursday's fieldtrip of LIFE Project Anglesey Choice 1, which will visit 4.5 ha of restoration peat cutting/re-profiling in 2011.
Thursday
LIFE PROJECT ANGLESEY CHOICE 1 FIELDTRIP
The Anglesey Fens Special Area of Conservation (SAC) represents an outstanding concentration of rich fen systems, the largest in western Britain.
All of the sites are fed by groundwater from limestone and the resulting areas of alkaline and calcareous fen are some of the best examples of these habitats in western Europe. The Anglesey & Llyn sites are currently ongoing restoration through one of Europe's largest LIFE projects. The site visit will be to Cors Erddreiniog, the largest component site of the Anglesey fens, and will examine how restoration work is being used to realise significant ecosystem benefits through renewed peat formation, carbon sequestration and reductions in DOC leaching to a drinking water reservoir downstream.
A key part of the site visit will be the 4.5 ha turf stripping area which was one of Europe's largest fen restoration actions (part of the Anglesey Fens SAC), A key part of the site visit will be the 4.5 ha turf stripping area, which was re -profiled in 2011 to remove enriched peat and to restore spring influences across the site suitable for the re-development of alkaline fen. We will also look at a novel approach to reconnecting diverted limestone springs back onto the site via a constructed wetland designed to achieve nitrogen removal. Although perfect on its own, this visit offers a useful comparison with the pre-conference trip. The fieldtrip is organised and sponsored by Anglesey and Llyn Fens LIFE Project.
LIFE PROJECT ANGLESEY CHOICE 2 FIELDTRIP
Visit one of Europe's largest LIFE projects Cors Erddreiniog (part of Anglesey Fens SAC) is also the focus for this field trip.
The previous lack of management on Cors Erddreiniog has necessitated landscape-scale action to enable long-term sustainable grazing management. This included purchase of a specialised wetland harvester to cut beds of calcareous beds, sensitive hand cutting of alkaline fen, reconnecting severed hydrological pathways and developing relationships with the surrounding agricultural community and re-introducing grazing. Restoration involved re-integrating the site with its local agricultural context through a programme of engagement with farmers and the wider community, thus providing wider economic benefits for rural development.
The fieldtrip is organised and sponsored by Anglesey and Llyn Fens LIFE Project.
MIGNEINT FIELDTRIP
***THIS FIELDTRIP IS NOW FULLY BOOKED***
The excursion will visit the Migneint, one of Wales' largest areas of blanket bog, where the National Trust are leading a major peat restoration programme with support from the Countryside Council for Wales, RSPB and Welsh Government.
We hope to witness ditch re-profiling in action, and will also visit research sites operated by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor and Leeds Universities, including the large field-scale Defra-funded peat restoration experiment, which examines methane , CO2, DOC and hydrological responses to ditch blocking.
The fieldtrip is organised and sponsored by CEH Bangor, RSPB and National Trust.
VIEW THE SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS HERE
Please help us to promote this important meeting - download and forward the meeting poster [Adobe PDF, 2302 Kb].
