Snowdonia National Park is the largest National Park in Wales.The National Park Authority's purpose is to
- conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area
- promote opportunities to understand and enjoy its special qualities
- foster the economic and social wellbeing of its communities.
Focussed around the foothills of the Snowdonia mountain range, the Eryri and Hiraethog Peatland Restoration Project aims to conserve and restore peat rich habitats - protecting the key services which they provide to society. The work ensures that the biodiversity of these areas continue to flourish so that they continue to be enjoyed by people for future generations. In an area where rural poverty is a real issue, it is vital that upland areas are sustainably managed to provide economic benefits to local communities whilst ensuring that the key ecosystem services which they deliver are not compromised.
The project hopes to reinstate the ecological integrity of the site so that it can once again provide the ecosystem services it once did, in addition to the ecological benefits. These include: Improving water quality, reducing peak flow rates lower down the valley by retaining water during periods of heavy rainfall and releasing water during periods of drought; Ensuring that the bog remains a net sink of carbon by re-wetting the land, preventing the oxidisation of the peat and thus the release of carbon back into the atmosphere and promoting capture of further carbon.
