Cumnock: Glaisnock Moss coalfield bog restoration success

The East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative (The CEI) has been working to restore the Glaisnock Moss bog complex to the south of the town.

Contractors brought in by the CEI dammed gullies and blocked ditches on part of the bog in the late winter of 2022/23 with the aim of keeping water in it.

Glaisnock Moss restoration. (Image: East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative)

The torrential rain that hit Scotland at the start of June gave a great opportunity to see how well the measures were working more than a year on. 

Project officer Emily Hay explained why they were working on the bog.

She said "The bog was drained in the mid 20th century, this makes it a source of carbon emissions, reduces its ability to store water and ruins the habitat for our amazing range of Scottish bog species so we have led a rewetting programme to make the bog function properly again."

As well as storing more water biodiversity on the bog, it has also improved with species like carnivorous sundew plants, cranberries and cotton grass all arriving or spreading.

The East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative has been working to restore the Glaisnock Moss. (Image: East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative)

Emily continued: "Rewetting this part of the bog involved putting in hundreds of peat dams, closing kilometres of ditches and installing around 20 sheet pile dams.

"We knew that the very heavy rain would let us see how that was working or if elements were getting washed away.

"We were delighted to see that it was working really well."

CEI Director Lucy Filby added: "Peatland restoration is a win for everyone, we were particularly delighted to see how quickly biodiversity on the bog has increased and we are looking forward to restoring more of this bog over the next two years."