The WaterLANDS project was highlighted as a success story by the Green Deal Projects Support Office (GDSO) for its work at the Irish Action Site, which guides and supports farmers in restoring blanket bog habitats.
The GDSO regularly publishes success stories from projects funded under the Horizon 2020 Green Deal Call, showcasing their innovative results, real-world impact, and the valuable lessons learned through their work. WaterLANDS was featured in the most recent collection of these success stories.
Description of Success
The WaterLANDS’ Irish Action Site, coordinated by LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature, is located at the Cuilcagh-Anierin Uplands Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in the northwest of Ireland. It is a blanket bog – a type of peatland – and is protected under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.
In October 2024, the Action Site published a manual, “Blanket bog restoration – Toolkit”, to guide farmers who want to undertake restoration actions on their land. However, it offers wide-ranging utility and can also be used by other stakeholders involved in restoration across Ireland and Europe.
Figure: Excerpt from WaterLANDS' "Blanket bog restoration - Toolkit" guidance that gives an overview of blank bog habitats characteristics and location
The toolkit is the first of its kind ever published in Ireland and forms part of the broader training programme developed by the Action Site. Restoration actions at the Irish Action Site are being driven through a results-based agri-environment payment scheme (RBPS) whereby farmers receive funding in exchange for improving habitat quality and biodiversity, using a scorecard system.
The user-friendly manual, which aims to guide farmers and other stakeholders in restoration actions, is provided during the training course and is available to download from the LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature website. It explains the main causes of degradation on peatlands in Ireland and provides the solutions for each cause, covering topics such as invasive species removal, drain management and erosion control. Lack of understanding peatlands and their value has been flagged by local communities, therefore, it is critical to share knowledge on the causes of and solutions to peatland degradation.
The Action Site Coordinator, Guaduneth Chico, highlights that ‘this publication is a solution-based toolkit for farmers and peatland practitioners where we have tried to explain all problems on Irish peatlands using graphical elements to simplify the key restoration techniques to address each problem. We are building the legacy of WaterLANDS in Ireland by creating the tool that the farmers can keep after the project’.
Read the Success Story here.
The restoration toolkit for farmers is available here.
