Andy L

Come and have a go at practical restoration work, while learning all about the vital role peatlands play on the Island😀 Places are limited, so reserve your spot here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/power-to-…

Find out how we've been restoring our peatland this winter by reading the latest blog on our website manxpeat.org 😊 We also have a new 'resources' page, where you can access reports on our upland wildlife among other things 💚

Looking back at a great year🤩 We've undertaken work on 300 hectares of peatland💪 We've continued our peat depth survey and installed a boardwalk to protect the peatland 🌿💦 And we've seen loads of wildlife, from hen harriers to mountain hares and, of course, sphagnum moss 😁

Reindeer moss can be found on several of our peatland sites 😍 This is an important food source for reindeer in snowy ❄️regions and, despite its name, is actually a lichen rather than a moss. Maybe Rudolf will stop by for a snack on Christmas Eve 🦌🤞

Our diggers have been working on zipper and wave damming some BIG eroding drainage ditches 😀. As well as filling in the ditch, this technique can create small pools of water behind the dams which are great for wildlife 🐦🦋. See before and after pictures⬇️

Adding coir netting to reprofiled peat hags helps protect the bare peat from the weather💦. Over time these will revegetate 🌿😊

A quick visit before the storm🌬️to a site where restoration work was undertaken earlier this year. It was great to see crowberry and heather growing through the coir netting🌿#Sphagnum moss has also started to become established in peat trapped behind coir logs 😊

Festive stars 😍 Polytrichum commune is a moss that is often found growing alongside sphagnum in our #peatlands. Unlike sphagnum, it doesn't absorb lots of water and doesn't create #peat forming conditions, but it's still nice to see 😊🌍

Have you ever wondered what lies beneath the peat 😱? This site has a large number of peat pipes, which are often associated with damaged peatland. We will be trialling ways to reduce the flow of water 💦entering these pipes, protecting our peatlands from further damage😁

So excited to have our #diggers back on site 😁 We have plenty of hags to reprofile, so let's hope the weather holds 🤞

We're trialling willow dams at Beinn-y-Phott. Hopefully these will act in a similar way to coir logs and heather bales, trapping sediment and slowing the flow of water 💦 We're using local materials and local labour 😃

We're making a film about our beautiful peatlands😁Today was the first calm day in ages, so we took the chance to do some filming on Beinn-y-Phott. When it's finished, this film will be available on our website and will be screened at select venues and events 💚👀

Look out for our new signs near Black Hut 👀 You can find lots of interesting peatland facts midway along the boardwalk, as well as an abundance of carnivorous sundew 🌿😍

We have a mountain of material on Beinn-y-Phott, ready for a team of @CivilDefenceIOM volunteers tomorrow evening. They have kindly offered to help with our peatland restoration, and we have plenty of work to do! 😊

What a day for working on the hills 🌞 Thanks to the efforts of our volunteer group, we have heather brash and coir netting on Mullagh Ouyr. Still a bit more to do, so fingers crossed the good weather continues 🤞☺️ #isleOfMan

Heather bales are now on site ready for our work party tomorrow 😊. We have a small group of volunteers who have kindly agreed to help spread heather brash and coir netting over reprofiled peat hags, helping to establish vegetation 🌿

In some areas, the erosion of peat has exposed the mineral layer, which is also washing away. Heather bales have been effective in trapping this and we're planning on trialling the use of willow bundles too ☺️#SlowTheFlow