Hairy green, brown eyed alien on Masham Moor?
No - something far less worrying. Read on.....
No - something far less worrying. Read on.....
This week the NCVs had no excuse to retreat to the cosy barn for a spot of tidying. The temperature had risen to a tropical 6-7 degrees (though feeling lower in the wind) so things were just about bearable to allow them to get up onto Masham Moor. Here they helped carry out the task they were meant to do last week when it snowed. The aim was to help the Yorkshire Peat Partnership with an innovative experiment to plant Sphagnum moss as part of their efforts to restore the area's upland peat bogs.
NCV Osian explains....
NCV Osian explains....
As part of a peatland restoration and management programme a scientific study is looking into which of the Sphagnum reintroduction methods work best, evaluating how quickly the moss grows, the impact on greenhouse gases, water quality and downstream flood risk.
The study site was reached after an off-road journey by car and then a trek on foot carrying tubs of moss over the heather moorland during which a flock of 30 golden plovers were spotted.
the only point of reference for miles around.
NCVs then got to grips with the highly technical task of, errr, chucking moss on the floor. There was a bit more to it than that, but essentially this is one of the four methods of moss reintroduction being studied. So, several builder’s bags of finest grade North Pennines sphagnum moss that had been helicoptered onto the moor the previous day were carefully scattered on predetermined plots of moorland. For more information on the project and an idea of what the helicopter brought in see this video https://www.yorkshirepost.co.
After a brief drinks interlude, the team turned to planting greenhouse grown plugs of moss at 1 metre intervals. As several team members remarked, “this greenhouse moss is in for a hell of shock”, a reference to the rather cold conditions on top o’ t’moor.
lunching amongst the heather?
A shot from the front confirmed the sighting.
It was clear that, during lunchtime, volunteer task leader Osian
took his supervisory duties very seriously indeed.
took his supervisory duties very seriously indeed.
After a prolonged lunch under the North Yorks sun and largely out of the bitter wind the volunteers got stuck into the third method of moss introduction in the form of planting fistfuls of moss in varying densities while other YPP team members sprayed moss fragments in a gel vehicle onto other plots for the 4th method of ‘seeding’.
Floristry skills were honed making bouquets of moss
to insert at 1 metre intervals..
for low and high density planting
another technique to retain water on the moor.
All in all a good day's work. It was an unusual and worthwhile task and it will be interesting to see the results of the study.
NCV news from elsewhere....
Firstly -whilst everyone else was planting moss, Jan was in the barn continuing with the shelving project. This week he was making shelves to go between the wider ones to give even more storage space.
Also - a couple of weeks ago three volunteers gave fellow NCV Tony a helping hand, laying the hedge in the field of his new home. An excellent job was done which will benefit wildlife, as well as keeping the field stock-proof. Many thanks have to go to the AONB for providing us with the training to be able to do this and for the loan of some of the extra tools we needed. (Thanks also to Tony's wife Alwin, who fed us like royalty on both days!)
A problem to solve.
A fine pleach achieved!
The final result.
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