Farm Peatland Restoration At Leadloch Farm, A Case Study and Guide

19 December 2024

Peatland restoration projects can be complex, with many moving parts. This case study of a year-long peatland restoration project aims to give readers an overview of how farmers and landowners in Scotland are successfully managing and completing these projects.

This case study was produced in partnership with The Future Forest Company (FFC):

Natural capital company with a three-fold focus:

Peatland restoration

Woodland creation

Biodiversity projects

Manage thousands of hectares of land in their own portfolio and on behalf of landowners.

Successfully completed three peatland restoration projects

All projects validated to the Peatland Code

Awarded ’Climate Change Champion’ in ‘Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards’ two years in a row.

About Leadloch Farm:

Historically a substantial sheep and cattle farm for 300 years.

Owned and managed by FFC for 3 years.

Post-industrial urban area.

Trainline runs through the edge of the land, bisecting enormous area of peatland.

Gas and ethylene pipelines run through the peatland on the farm.

Neighbours an old quarry.
Surrounded by wind turbines and sitka spruce plantations.

An overview of Leadloch Farm located in the Central Belt of Scotland.

Initial Findings – Appearances Can Be Deceiving!

Each peatland site should be assessed holistically. When FFC took a closer look at Leadloch they found that although it didn’t look like peatland or have any positive peatland indicators such as sphagnum moss there was up to 6 meters of deep peat under the ground that would benefit from restoration.

“I would encourage any farmers to find out whether there is any deep peat on their land, and to work out what they do with it now and whether restoration would be the right thing for them. Peatland restoration often doesn’t hinder any land use farmers have right now, but it can be great for carbon storage and for biodiversity.”

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A line of vegetated drain showing the typical ground cover in the drained areas at Leadloch Farm.

While grazing is absolutely possible and permitted on restored peatland, in this instance FFC chose not to continue traditional farming. However, FFC has successfully integrated grazing into their land management on other sites they have restored. Including highland cattle and wooly pigs.

”Leadloch farm could be described as marginal in terms of being a working farm; it was not a profitable farm. Our assessment resulted in very minimal income if the land continued being used only for grazing. And since you could still graze on peatland, anyway, it was not a difficult decision to restore the peatland.”- Matthew Cook, Peatland Project Manager, FFC.Project Objectives

Planning Stages And Project Design

All projects should start with an initial assessment. This comprises of:

Desktop study of publicly available information on peatland and any aerial imagery available.

Identifying erosion features that are suitable for restoration.

Generate an estimate of:

The scale and size of the restoration project

The carbon value of the project.

Use this to identify any grant funding that might be available to you.

The Development Stage

Register and validate the project with The Peatland Code. This is a voluntary carbon market scheme which can provide revenue to the landowners.

Raise a funding application to Peatland ACTION to pay for the capital works.
In the case of Leadloch, it was also important to apply for planning permission from both, the gas pipeline company, and the local council’s planning department.

A restoration map developed for the Peatland Code showing the area of peatland restoration at Leadloch Farm.

Identifying Available Funding And Carbon Credits

Peatland ACTION

The capital works undertaken by the contractor were paid for by the Peatland ACTION grant. This is government funding, which is available to all landowners in Scotland. This funding will pay for up to 100 % of the capital works. The assessment of the site, the design of the project, the project management, and the costs associated with the Peatland Code were all paid for by The FFC.

If farmers are planning to apply for funding from Peatland ACTION, the best thing is to get in touch with their local Project Officer, who will visit their site and help them understand the peat condition, give them good guidance as to whether funding may be available and provide general technical help. Peatland ACTION Officers are experienced and will be able to give farmers an indication of what the project may entail. If landowners are going through the Peatland Code, they will likely need a developer, to support them through the process.

The assessment of the site, the design of the project, the project management, and the costs associated with the Peatland Code were all paid for by FFC.

The Peatland Code

The Peatland Code is completely separate to Peatland ACTION, although their processes are streamlined to some extent for improved efficiency. The Peatland Code is a government-backed scheme and works by validating and verifying carbon emissions reductions that will be made over the term of the project; for this project at Leadloch, the term is 100 years. Using the Peatland Code metrics, landowners can work out how much carbon emissions reductions they will be achieving. Then those emission reductions can be sold as carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market to interested buyers.

Finding The Right Team

There can be a lot involved in the peatland restoration plan, so the competence and experience of teams working in peatland restoration is very important. Peatland restoration projects involve a range of assessments, including ecological and herbivore impact assessments, surveys of protected species and, in the case of Leadloch, even tree removal.

FFC also emphasise the importance of working with experienced contractors, who, have been steadily increasing in numbers in Scotland. The type of restoration techniques required will determine the right contractor for the job. The contractor chosen to carry out the works at Leadloch Farm was able to evidence their experience with the full range of techniques required on this site.

Methods Used

Forest-to-bog restoration

This included removal of Sitka spruce plantation, stump flipping, drain blocking and ground smoothing using low ground pressure excavators.

Drain blocking – peat and wooden dams

Using excavators, artificial drains were blocked to slow-down water flow to restore the peatland hydrology. Peat dams were used in most of the artificial drains with a few wider drains or steeper areas requiring timber dams.

Trench bunding

This technique is used to stop water flow below the surface level of peatlands. This is often applied in areas with peat pipes and cracks in deep peat. At Leadloch, deep trench bunding was used in an area with remains of an old peat bank to mitigate the risk of peat slide.

Scrub removal

Tree regeneration can alter peatland habitats. The removal of Sitka spruce scrub was carried out to promote the peatland restoration.

See Peatland ACTION Technical Compendium for detailed descriptions of peatland restoration techniques.

A timber dam installed in a wide drain at Leadloch Farm.

A low ground pressure excavator carrying out the works in the forest to bog restoration area at Leadloch Farm.

Results Of Restoration:

It has only been one year since the peatland restoration was completed at Leadloch, but the farm has seen lots of wildlife return there. Most excitingly, hen harriers were seen there for the first time. This was after the Sitka spruce shelterbelts were removed, creating a large open peatland area.

Leadloch farm now has a native woodland, a wildflower meadow and a peatland on its path to recovery. There is also a fen area, which used to be a loch.

“Leadloch is going to be an oasis for nature for generations to come and we’re very pleased that it shows what can be done with what was a heavily managed and degraded landscape impacted by soil depletion and low levels of biodiversity. We hope it shows that nature-based carbon storage projects, which help with carbon and nature, have more co-benefits than other forms of carbon storage. We haven’t used any industrial mechanisms to store carbon, we used nature. And now the site can be enjoyed by people, animals, birds, as well as storing carbon for generations.” - Matthew

A deep trench bund at Leadloch Farm shortly after completion of the works.

A deep trench bund at Leadloch Farm several months after work has been completed

Matthew’s Key Recommendations For Those Exploring Restoration

Explore your options

Find out as much as you can about peatland restoration. Speak to Peatland ACTION, who should provide you with free advice with no obligation to proceed with a project, and possibly with free peat depth survey, which is an important part of a peatland restoration project.

Speak with people who’ve already done it

There are a number of developers across Scotland, who have experience with peatland restoration and with the Peatland Code. There is nothing stopping farmers from contacting all of them and asking how they would go about peatland restoration project, what they would do, and whether they can estimate the carbon value of a project on their land.

Understand what it would look like on your land

All developers should provide an initial assessment at no cost and no obligation. Farmers should also meet developers face to face on their site, walk with them across their land and have a good chat. This will help develop a relationship between them and build trust.