SRA Annual Report 2022-23: Somerset Levels and Moors peat trials
In March 2022, the SRA agreed to part-fund the running of a trial scheme of payments for the preservation and restoration of peat in two to four small areas of the Somerset Levels & Moors.
Areas of wet low-lying peaty land are important to the SRA because they can act as a buffer against flooding.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is keen for lessons to be learned from a trial so that Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) can “reward farmers and land managers for producing public goods”, such as preventing carbon dioxide (CO2) loss from lowland peat.
Activities in 2022-23
Talks have been held by the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SouthWest (FWAG SW) with more than 50 landowners, and three possible locations have been identified:
- Lang Moor near Westonzoyland
- Chilton Moor near Gold Corner
- Queen’s Sedgemoor near Glastonbury
Subject to final agreements being reached, and Internal Drainage Board consents being given for raised water levels, it is hoped to run trials later in 2023.