Laying Mossy Blankets to help restore the Moor
Over the past year our mossy blankets have been made embroidered, planted and nurtured by communities in Plymouth and around Dartmoor. We’ve used sphagnum moss grown in sterile conditions by BeadaMoss, kindly donated to us for our work and to prevent us taking moss from the wild.
In December, the mossy blankets were ready to be taken up to the moor. University of Plymouth students and colleagues, the land owner and Dartmoor National Park Rangers helped us.
We placed the blankets on an eroding site out of the way of trampling cattle, a site agreed with the landowner, to see whether the sphagnum moss continued to grow and help to restore the area. In total, the mossy blankets covered about 10 metres squared of eroded peatland.
The team on Dartmoor with the mossy blankets
“We got so excited to hear how it is possible to combine art and biology to have an impact on biodiversity, taking climate action, and reaching out to different people”
At the IUCN Peatland conference in September we had the opportunity to see restoration at giant scale. Bare fleece blankets were being used in the Cairngorms to slow the flow of water and encourage vegetation to grow back and protect the peat. The mossy blankets that we made in Devon were on a much smaller scale; but it was interesting to see the plain ones being used in giant landscapes looking just as small.
Our images show our mossy blankets on Dartmoor (left) and bare fleece blankets in situ in the Cairngorms.
We’ll return to this site to check on our mossy blankets and monitor how they fare in the peatland landscape.
“It was really good to be part of something a bit different, melding conservation and art.”
We really enjoyed using wool for landscape regeneration at a small scale, it is otherwise wasted, burnt and buried and there are so many ways to get creative with it. Finding new and creative ways to encourage more people to volunteer, gain new skills, and help support the regeneration of moorland and mossy landscapes is an essential step towards resilience of a community and a landscape facing the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
Our thanks to everyone who joined us on the day and supported our work along the way. With grateful thanks to Devon Environment Foundation for funding our mossy blanket work. You can read our full report here.
