Sarah Hickey, the Isle of Man’s Peatland Officer, leads a three-person team managing approximately 8,000 hectares of the island’s uplands. Her work focuses on restoring areas of peatland that have been degraded over centuries, particularly sections damaged by historical peat cutting for fuel.
Peat consists of partially decomposed vegetation accumulated in waterlogged conditions over thousands of years and represents the most carbon-dense soil type on Earth. Historical removal of trees from the island’s highlands during the 17th century led residents to harvest peat for heating and cooking fuel. Although the practice was prohibited in 2020, the bare faces created by cutting continue to erode, washing sediment into reservoirs.
Restoration efforts employ mechanical and biological approaches. Teams use light machinery to reshape exposed peat into gentler slopes, then apply protective bioLogs and netting to maintain moisture and shade while vegetation reestablishes. Sphagnum moss plays a central ecological role, both thriving in peatland habitats and actively creating conditions that support them. The moss retains substantial water quantities, moderating rainfall runoff to reduce flooding and filtering sediment before it reaches water supplies. Its water content, potentially reaching 90 percent in healthy peat, also provides fire resistance—an increasingly valuable characteristic as summer wildfires become more frequent.
The restoration work benefits wildlife communities dependent on open bogland. Ground-nesting birds such as hen harriers use treeless terrain to avoid predators, while wet soil supports invertebrate populations that feed chick populations. Observable results emerge relatively quickly, with newly created pools attracting dragonflies and supporting reproduction within months of installation.
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