AN initiative aimed at increasing the number of trained and experienced contractors working in peatland restoration has been shortlisted for two prestigious awards.
Peatland ACTION – which is led by NatureScot, Scottish Water, Forestry and Land Scotland, and Scotland’s two National Park authorities – has been shortlisted for an RSPB Nature of Scotland Award in the Landscape Restoration Category and for its work on Nature and the Environment for the Holyrood Climate Action Awards.
The Nature of Scotland Awards celebrate the inspirational people, projects, groups, and organisations working hard to protect Scotland’s precious natural heritage. Peatland ACTION has looked to put Scotland at the forefront of landscape-scale peatland restoration in Europe.
The programme is not only providing 100% funding to landowners, but the on-the-ground support, training for contractors, innovative techniques, and technical know-how that are needed to successfully restore our peatlands, it plays a vital part in tackling Scotland’s biodiversity crisis.
Launched in 2021 to coincide with Glasgow’s hosting of COP26, the Holyrood Climate Action Awards recognise key players across seven categories including technology, nature, community, and the circular economy who are making significant contributions to Scotland’s net zero journey. Healthy peatlands can capture and store ten times as much carbon as any other land-based habitat. The work that Peatland ACTION is doing has so far resulted in over 43,000 hectares of peatlands being restored, giving it a ‘significant’ role in helping Scotland achieve its net-zero target by 2045.
Peatland ACTION said that it has recognised that to achieve the increase in the scale and pace of restoration needed, there also needs to be an increase in the number of trained and experienced contractors working in the sector. Its training programme and technical advice is proving an important part of achieving this, it added.
Peter Hutchinson, NatureScot Peatland ACTION programme manager – strategy, said, “One of Peatland ACTION’s main aims is to encourage land owners, managers and contractors to work with us to put more of Scotland’s damaged peatlands on the road to recovery. So we are delighted to be shortlisted for these awards. We hope this will encourage more people to understand the value of our peatlands and take action to restore and protect them.”
The Holyrood Climate Award winners are due to be announced on 8 November 2023, with the Nature of Scotland Awards announced at a ceremony on 22 November 2023.
