The Kindling Trust , free lance journalist Simon Birch and Lancashire Wildlife Trust met up in mid-November at Chat Moss, in Irlam to look at the ongoing challenge that faces the area, namely large scale peat extraction, competing with wildlife habitat restoration and the need to reduce our carbon emissions.
We had a fascinating few hours, discussing the future options for the Moss and touring the area; seeing the devastation peat extraction causes; the continuing decline of farming; and the hard work of conservationists in protecting pockets of the Moss.
Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog, covering a huge area of Salford, at the southern edge of the Lancashire Plain. It is around 7,000 years old, peat beginning to form around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. In the nineteenth century, drainage and development resulted in the area becoming prime agricultural land, supplying Manchester (and London) with salad and vegetables. However over the last decade or so agriculture has been replaced by industrial-scale peat extraction and other unsustainable land uses (e.g. horsiculture and the growing of turf for lawns).
We learnt that the continued drainage and drying out of the Moss, as part of peat extraction (and to a much lesser extent agriculture) was not only destroying valuable bio-diversity [the area is known as Salford's rainforest] but is responsible for producing huge amounts of Carbon dioxide - the primary greenhouse gas:
Because peat consists of approximately 50% carbon. Extraction of peat results in loss of that carbon as it will rapidly be oxidised to carbon dioxide when used as peat based composts for horticulture. Also, bare peat (such as the 100 hectare site shown above) is an emitter of carbon dioxide, as oxygen gets into the drained peat and oxidises it in situ. The net result is damaging emissions which worsen the problem of climate change.
Our discussions explored the opportunities to balance the crucial need to preserve and enhance the rich wildlife habitats whilst at the same time returning the area to its thriving past as a horticultural centre. What became clear throughout the afternoon, was the crucial role the Moss plays in 'locking up carbon' and this should take priority over all other needs.
One of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust's reserves we visited was Cadishead Moss. For more information about this site please click here.
To join the campaign to save Chat Moss click here.