Connecting us back to our beautiful peatlands.
Too many communities, who historically were linked to the peatland, have begun to lose their links and knowledge. Peatlands are becoming relegated as another landscape on the edge of our lives, often slowly eroding. And what is no longer connected to us, is no longer a place we understand or have passion for – a must for anyone to feel strongly about protecting them. At its heart, this is what our new project “Peatland Connections” is about.
Peatland Connections seeks to use creative ways of engaging. Every community, here and abroad, once had such links to their natural world through myths, art, and songs. The project hopes to rekindle our connection through creativity, and once that passion has been lit, it will go on to engage people with how their land is used, and its intrinsic worth.
By developing a decision-making tool with input from land users, the project wishes to make clear that peatland has strong natural capital – that intrinsic worth and economic value. Healthy peatland gives us more back, in ecosystem services, than unhealthy peatland, and so this tool will be a resource for developers and communities to assess their bogs.
We are pleased to announce that Jayne Murdoch, already a familiar face to the team, will be managing the project. If you’d like to find out more, the Peatland Connections website launches today, and the project’s social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are already active.
Peatland Connections is funded by Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.