How Moorland Gamekeepers are Saving The UK's Largest Carbon Store
- Rob Beeson
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
✅ KEY TAKEAWAY: By undoing historical drainage, moorland keepers are rewetting peatlands to lock in carbon and boost biodiversity, proving that tailored, on-the-ground management outperforms blanket rewilding policies.
Never before in history have we been so aware of our carbon footprint. Right now, grouse moors are doing their part to capture as much carbon as possible.
At the heart of this environmental effort are our peatlands. Peatlands are the UK’s absolute largest store of carbon. Astonishingly, they store the equivalent of up to eight years of the UK’s total emissions output.
The secret lies in the peat itself: the waterlogged and acidic conditions in the soil prevent plant matter from fully decomposing, which locks that precious carbon safely underground.
Because of this, keeping our peatlands wet has been highlighted as a massive environmental priority. The National Gamekeepers Organisation video above outlines what moorland keepers are doing for Mother Nature, and how they are undoing decades of historical damage:
The Mistakes of the Past: Why Were the Moors Drained?
To understand the restoration work happening today, we first have to look back at the history of the moors. Why did anyone drain these wet landscapes in the first place?
In the 1940s and 50s, after the Second World War, the country was struggling and looking for ways to bounce back. The government desperately wanted higher domestic food production. To achieve this, they incentivized farmers to drain the moors so they could graze a higher "headage" of sheep.
Because the government paid farmers per sheep, the grazing numbers skyrocketed. Historically, an estate might have had 400 or 500 sheep on the moor. By the 1940s and 50s, that number leaped to up to 1,500 sheep.
It soon became tragically apparent that this increased burden on the landscape was detrimental. The soft peat earth simply could not handle the massive volumes of water being sent down newly carved drainage ditches - known as "grips." Over the decades, these grips eroded to enormous sizes.
As one moorland expert, standing in a deep gully, explains: "We’re standing in what used to be a really small little stream, probably only a couple of foot deep. And now it’s washed out... all this exposed peat, obviously three metres deep and three, four metres wide at the tops."
Considering that healthy peat grows at a painstaking rate of just one millimetre a year under ideal conditions, the damage is staggering. As the keeper notes, "Thousands of years of peat has been washed away here already and gone down the stream into the main river."
What is Peatland Restoration?
Times have changed. Over the last four decades, moorland owners and gamekeepers have been working tirelessly to restore these rare, precious environments to their former glory.
At its core, peatland restoration is about undoing all the bad work that was done from the 1920s right through to the 1960s, alongside fixing historical damage caused by old lead mining.
The goal is simple but incredibly challenging: bring the water level back up near the top surface. Keepers aim to hold the water table just two to six inches below the surface, acting like a giant sponge.
Helicopters, Diggers, and Brash: Healing the Moors
Getting heavy equipment onto delicate moors to fix the historic drainage grips is difficult. Large vehicles easily get stuck in the soft ground and can cause further damage to the vegetation. This is where modern ingenuity steps in.
To minimize the impact on the environment, estates are increasingly using helicopters to ferry materials up the hills. The helicopter brings large rocks directly to the restoration sites.
"It's a pretty cost-effective way of bringing the stone up here," notes one of the keepers. "You can place them directly in exactly the spot you need it... there's no damage to the vegetation around it."
These stones are used to create semi-permeable dams every 20 metres along the wider gullies. They allow water to slowly trickle through while backing it up slightly. This creates sediment pools that will eventually vegetate with sphagnum moss, gradually slowing the flow of water off the hill.
Blocking the Grips
For the smaller, individual drains, diggers are used to create dams out of the precious peat itself. This process has actually been carried out by shooting estates since the 1980s. The digger scoops out peat and drops it directly into the middle of the old grip, stopping the water flow.
Over time, these blocked grips naturally regenerate, filling with clear water and sphagnum moss. As one keeper proudly points out looking at a restored grip, "It's a huge giant sponge."
The Power of Brashing
In another effort to promote long-term carbon sequestration, teams are working to cover up any exposed areas of bare peat to stop erosion. They do this using heather cuttings, known as "brash."
The brash is laid down over the exposed peat. Next, extra heather seed is spread over the top. Finally, several thousand sphagnum moss "plugs" are planted amongst the brash to create a micro-site for these vital plant species to establish themselves and permanently cover the bare peat.
The Remarkable Benefits of Rewetting
The restoration work driven by moorland keepers provides a cascading list of benefits for the entire ecosystem:
Locking in Carbon: By covering bare peat, filling gullies, and stopping runoff, carbon is securely locked into the moorland soil rather than washing away.
Improving Water Quality: Water that filters slowly through natural, rewetted vegetation is significantly clearer and cleaner than water running quickly off bare, eroded peat.
Boosting Biodiversity: Wetter areas are an absolute haven for invertebrates. "Invertebrates are key to chick survival," a keeper points out. This insect life is vital not just for grouse, but for a whole host of ground-nesting waders and songbirds, including curlews, golden plovers, meadow pipits, and skylarks.
The Complex Reality: Floods, Fires, and Beetles
While "rewetting" is an important buzzword in conservation, it isn't a magic cure-all. The keepers on the ground are quick to point out the nuanced realities of this environmental work.
Does rewetting stop downstream flooding? Not entirely. The restored moors act as a massive sponge. As Ian, a local keeper, explains, "Once that sponge is full, the water's got to go somewhere." The rewetting slows the flow down and reduces the speed of the water coming off the moor - which helps lower-ground flooding - but it won't solve the issue completely once maximum capacity is reached.
Does rewetting prevent wildfires? Unfortunately, no. While sphagnum moss stores a lot of water, its top three or four inches can dry out completely in the summer, turning "like tissue paper." While a wet moor might be more resilient against deep, underground peat fires, a surface wildfire will still skip right across the dry top layers of vegetation.
There are also unexpected negatives to watch out for. Some areas can become entirely too wet, which actually stresses the heather plants. Stressed heather becomes highly susceptible to attacks from the heather beetle, which targets weakened plants and can devastate the local vegetation.
Why "Blanket" Approaches and Rewilding Aren't Magic Bullets
Because of these complex realities, one message from the keepers is clear: every single piece of moorland is different. Moors feature varied soil types, peat depths, and vegetation growth rates. A blanket management plan drawn up in an office often has inherent problems on the ground. Practitioners need the flexibility and freedom to manage their specific, unique landscapes.
Furthermore, there is the ongoing debate around "rewilding," specifically regarding planting trees on the high moorland. While clough woodlands are fantastic on steep, dry bank sides, planting trees on the deep upland peat is entirely counterproductive.
"We all know that wet peat moorland retains ten times more carbon than woodland," a keeper confirms. Trees planted on the high tops would suck the vital water right out of the ground, ruining the wet habitat that specialized bird life desperately needs. Creating a balance - wet open moors on the top, woodlands on the steep sides, and fields at the bottom - is the true key to a thriving environment.
A Commitment to the Future
Peatland restoration, carbon sequestration, or simply moorland rewetting - call it what you will, it is incredibly important work to help slow climate change. By undoing the historical drainage damage funded by the government all those years ago, the gamekeepers and moorland owners of Britain are working with great enthusiasm toward a greener future.
Over time, ongoing scientific research and monitoring will continue to prove the true value of the hard work these men and women are putting in today. As they always have, they will adapt these findings for the ultimate benefit of conservation and the environment.
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