Green light for grazing on Pembrokeshire’s important peatland sites - Natural Resources Wales

A project restoring seven areas of Welsh peatland has successfully installed an impressive 16km of fencing on sites in Pembrokeshire which will enable safe and sustainable grazing on 280 hectares of common land.

Grazing plays a key role in maintaining these landscapes by reducing the dominance of invasive vegetation that choke areas where important “bog building” mosses need to thrive and form the all-important peat.

The five-year, £5 million LIFEquake project, funded by EU LIFE and supported by Welsh Government is being delivered by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in partnership with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Eryri National Park and National Trust.

LIFEquake, focusses on transition mire and quaking bog habitats –so called because the ground literally ‘quakes’ underfoot.

4% of Wales is peatland which contains 30% of our land-based carbon, however 90% of Welsh peatland is in “unfavourable conservation status” meaning that harmful greenhouse gases are being released.

The LIFEquake project is delivering a range of different actions to restore the habitat in seven Special Areas of Conservation across Wales – Pembrokeshire’s sites include the North-West Pembrokeshire Commons near St Davids and Gweunydd Blaencleddau near Mynachlogddu.

Vicky Squire, LIFEquake project officer, Pembrokeshire said: “Due to these sites being under-grazed over the years, a lot of the small but important peat-forming plants have been outcompeted by invasive vegetation and more dominant grasses. Grazing will improve the overall condition of the sites and provide a refuge for invertebrates such as moths, dragonflies, damselflies, and butterflies – most notably the marsh fritillary, a key indicator of healthy, functioning peatland.”