(c) Ellie Sherlock
Carbon Landscape trainees, volunteers and The Friends of Chat Moss have come together in this huge planting effort to improve the valuable peatland.
The planting project has consisted of adding hare’s-tail cottongrass and cross-leaved heath to the site, both typical plants of a healthy lowland peat bog.
We're planting species you'd likely expect in a lowland raised peat bog site, like Little Woolden Moss. The planting will add to the overall diversity of the site and aid in restoration, by preventing the peat from drying out. The new plants will also help the sphagnum moss on site stay in place as, being a rootless plant, it could otherwise blow away.Carbon Landscape Trainee
Andy planting on Little Woolden MossÂ
A number of plants being added to the site have been grown by Princess Park Garden Centre in Irlam. The garden centre works as a fully operational garden centre that offers work-based training opportunities for people with disabilities. This is a fantastic example of the community coming together to improve a local green space.
Little Woolden Moss, in Salford is one of the last remaining fragments of the Chat Moss peatland complex. Formerly a site of intensive peat extraction, the site, which is now managed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust, is being transformed beyond recognition.
I first came onto Little Woolden Moss a few years ago for some butterfly surveys and the site was almost completely bare. It’s really nice to see it now covered in plants and to be out here planting even more. Volunteer efforts like this really do make a difference to our green spaces.Carbon Landscape Trainee
Emma on Little Woolden Moss
Peatlands are vital landscapes; dotted amongst some of our most urbanised areas they create a wilderness between thousands of homes. Peatlands also help prevent flooding by soaking up water during periods of high rainfall and combat climate change by acting as massive stores for carbon.
The Carbon Landscape is the first major partnership project of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership. The 5-year, £3.2 million National Lottery Heritage Funded project brings together 13 partners, led by Lancashire Wildlife Trust, to restore and reconnect green spaces like Little Woolden Moss in Wigan, Warrington and Salford.
