Art, Discussions about Land Use, Peatland Restoration and Tree Planting Brought Together through Resonance

The project was launched on November 26^th at Bolton Fell and Walton Moss National Nature Reserve. This remarkable space, a lowland raised mire (peat bog) that covers almost 900 hectares, offers a story of successful peatland restoration. ** Around the edges of the bog, where the peat is shallow and relatively dry, birch trees grow in their thousands. To launch Resonance, more than 50 people gathered to gently remove 49 of these birch trees, which will be used in the seven tree circles.

The event was co-run by Harriet Fraser and Rob Fraser from the PLACE Collective, working with Natural England, who own Bolton Fell and Walton Moss National Nature Reserve. Attendees came from local areas – including people engaged in biodiversity monitoring on the bog – and from across England and southern Scotland, from specialisms including hydrology, farming, peatland restoration, forestry, woodland creation, soil, government policy, ornithology, ecology, communications, and community sustainability groups; with representatives from Natural England, Nature Scot, National Trust, Lake District National Park, RSPB, Friends of the Lake District, DEFRA and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH).

Out on the Moss, and gathering trees

The event was an opportunity for people to follow the boardwalk out onto the peatland, and to learn about the restoration of the peat moss from specialists including Deborah Land who is currently Peatland Action Project Manager at Nature Scot, and was instrumental in managing the moss’s transition to ownership and restoration under Natural England.

The group then turned their attention to gently removing young birch trees: seven groups of people working together to collect seven sets of trees, which were marked with ribbons spanning the colours of the rainbow. Teamwork, collaboration, problem solving, close investigation of mosses, and plenty of laughter. In moments of quiet some of the other lives on the moss revealed themselves: a frog in a sphagnum pool, a hare bounding through pale grasses, snipe bursting out from the sward.

Focused discussions

Back in the village hall, after lunch, the afternoon began with micro-talks from:

• Martin Phillips, Director of the Centre for Critical and Creative Geographies at the University of Leicester, and LUNZ Hub co-lead of the Transdisciplinary Community and Capacity Building work package
• Jack Brennand, PhD student in peatland science, researching carbon accounting of peatland restoration, and regularly monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from Bolton Fell Moss
• Andrew Weatherall, RSPB Principal Policy Officer, Trees and Woodlands
• Richard Leafe, former CEO of the Lake District National Park Authority
• Jack Hannam, LUNZ Hub England co-lead and president of the British Soil Science Society (Jack’s contribution was delivered on her behalf due to a last-minute change of circumstances)
• Eliza Hodgson (Farmer, and Lake District National Park Authority assistant farming officer)
• Fran Ryfield, Environmental Improvement Plan Social Research and Evaluation Lead, DEFRA
• Anita Lazurko, Scenario developer at UKCEH, and LUNZ Hub Early Careers Research Board Lead

The afternoon continued with small group discussions, delving into four provocative questions. Attendees shared their views on topics they’d like to see addressed at the Big Tent event at the end of March. This will be co-run by the LUNZ Hub and the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas, at the Ambleside Campus of University of Cumbria, and will focus on Land Use for Net Zero, Nature and People in the context of uplands, peatlands, tree planting, protected landscapes and cultural heritage.

The Resonance film and illustrations

Throughout the day, filmmakers from the PLACE Collective were in action. Matt Sharman, with support from Juliet Klottrup and Reuben Hibbert, captured activity during the tree removal, and filmed short interviews with attendees. The team will be sharing short clips from the day and will be building a film in the coming months that shares views of land use and change, and the story of the emerging artwork.

Another member of the PLACE Collective team, illustrator and former climate change adviser Ali Foxon was equipped with pencils and paper. Ali will be documenting the project through illustrations and has already produced a visual of a Resonance birch circle, in an overview of the project here.

We’ll be sharing top take-outs from the day in a future post.

And if you’re wondering what has happened to the birch trees, they are now safely ‘heeled in’ to soil in Rob and Harriet’s garden. They will rest here until being replanted in the circles at seven locations in February and March 2025. The collection and replanting of these trees falls within the window of time when trees are dormant, and can withstand being moved.

**A note on restoration at Bolton Fell Moss

After decades of peat extraction, largely for horticulture, industrial extraction ceased in 2013. At that time, vast swathes of the bog were dark black, and in places as much as ten metres of peat had been removed. Eleven years later, after a process of complicated negotiations, environmental designation, and dedicated restoration, the moss is on the road to recovery. During discussions in the village hall, Ian Crosher (Senior Specialist Climate Change, Natural England) underlined that this peatland, like other degraded peatlands across the UK, may never be restored to its original state – it will take thousands of years for peat to accumulate. However, much of the previously bare peat here is now covered with vegetation. This not only reduces the sequestration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, it also provides the conditions for sphagnum mosses to grow, and for wildlife to return: return in spring and summer and you’ll see that the moss is home to butterflies, dragonflies and a host of ground-nesting birds.