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About

Attendees will gain accreditation in peatland restoration and acquire best practice from practitioners with substantial experience in peatland ecology, management and restoration. On completion, the learners will be able to apply best practice in all aspects of planning, delivering and monitoring the restoration of degraded peatland sites.

The finer details

The programme consists of:

  • 8 topics that will be delivered over 2 separate 3 day sessions. Part 1 will be focused on the preparation phase required before conducting peatland restoration. Part 2 will be focused on the delivery phase of restoration.
  • The topics to be covered are peatland ecology, health and safety, surveying, practical restoration, restoration plans, delivering restoration and evaluating success, advocacy, funding and potential future funding streams.
  • The course will be delivered through a mixture of classroom-based sessions comprising of presentations, interactive workshops and activities.
  • The course will include 2 field trip days to different peatland sites. These field trips offer the opportunity to practise some of the taught field skills out on site and to review aspects of the course in the field.

In advance of the start date, digital copies of an extensive reading list including papers and pdfs will be supplied. This supplementary material will provide background on the topics and will include additional resources for the tasks and activities.

Delivery method

Classroom and practical

Recognised by

The IUCN UK Peatland Programme, Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Peatland Action Group and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Course description:

Peatland Restoration Practitioner Download PDF

Who should attend?

The peatland restoration practitioner course is for those who are interested in and motivated by managing and conserving peatlands. Land managers and restoration officers who would like to develop or diversify their skillset in peatland restoration and management. Peatland restoration practitioners who would like to gain formal proof of competence in peatland restoration and management.

What will be covered?

By the end of the course you will be able to:

  • Comprehensively understand peatland ecology, the environmental benefits of peatlands, their historic and current threats and ways that they can be sustainably managed
  • Address the health and safety issues related to site visits and tasks, compile site and task risk assessments and determine the role each stakeholder needs to undertake adhering to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) 2015
  • Distinguish and explain the differences between good and degraded peatland vegetation communities; identify appropriate survey techniques for different types of peatlands; pre and post-survey map damaged peatlands and assess erosion features and make recommendations for peatland restoration using QGIS
  • Explain the different categories of restoration interventions and their impact on a peatland
  • Interpret a range of data (satellite imagery, aerials, photos, site assessment vegetation data using QGIS, hydrological monitoring) to guide recommendations, address the objectives in a brief, scale back work to meet the budget using QGIS and explore future management recommendations for land managers post-capital works
  • Follow the capital works tendering process, acquire consents, conduct services and utilities checks, instigate archaeological assessments and compile access agreements
  • Advocate peatland restoration in restoration plan meetings with stakeholders and develop techniques to address challenging situations
  • Recognise funding opportunities, understand match funding methods and learn about carbon schemes, The Peatland Code and payments for ecosystem services
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