ONGOING work to restore and re-wet Holt Mire will also protect a species of floating spider and flesh eating plant.

98 hectares/242 acres, equivalent to over 180 football pitches of peatland is being restored on Holt Heath as part of the Dorset Peat Partnership’s £1 million plan to reinstate peatlands on 16 sites across the county.

Drainage ditches at Holt Heath National Nature Reserve are being blocked to raise the water table and vegetation will also be cleared to encourage peatland flora and fauna to recover and thrive – including the floating Raft Spider and the carnivorous Sundew plant.

Peatlands play a crucial role in tackling climate change as they capture and store up to three times as much carbon as woodlands – but they are in decline.

According to the National Trust, 80% of peatland in the UK has been affected by human activity and the removal of peat and drying out of these landscapes is having a “major impact” on nature.

A slow worm on Holt Mire Picture: National Trust/Alex Dixon Photography

When peatlands are left to degrade they release the trapped carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“Dorset’s peatlands are a mosaic of rich and diverse wetland habitats, bogs, mires and fen spread across the lowland heath habitats,” a National Trust spokesperson said.

They are internationally recognised for their ecological significance and are homes to migratory birds, rare damselflies, amphibians and reptiles, which rely on the condition of these wet mire heath habitats to survive

Eleanor Egan, National Trust countryside manager for Kingston Lacy said: “Holt Mire is an incredibly important and unusual habitat in Dorset.

“Restoring the peatland will stop carbon from being released from the degrading peat and eventually encourage the creation of more peat.

“This project will also safeguard a rare and beautiful habitat that is home to many weird and wonderful creatures that just aren’t found anywhere else.”

Grace Hervé, Dorset peat partnership project manager said: “This partnership is demonstrating real success on how to work with nature and tackle multiple problems in one go.

Removing trees and shrubs to allow peatland habitat to return Picture: National Trust/ Alex Dixon Photography

“The simplicity of the restoration works using just the natural materials already present on site to form peat blocks in drainage channels to hold back water is truly incredible – the results are immediate.”

The project will also improve drought and fire resistance, by holding more water in the landscape during the summer and soaking up heavy rainfall.

In December 2023, fire crews from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue tackled a large wildfire at Holt Heath, which destroyed 3.7 hectares.

Peat can also be used for domestic heating purposes as an alternative to firewood, with campaigners calling for a ban on the use of peat when burned can release carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change.