Diolch yn fawr (thank you very much) IUCN UK Peatland Programme and the peatland community for another incredible conference in Swansea!
With the theme ‘Peatlands Under Pressure’, the programme was packed with informative plenary sessions, workshops, and site visits.
This event is invaluable to understanding the work that still needs to be done to protect our precious peatlands. We look forward to sharing knowledge, connecting and ceilidh-ing the night away again next year!
Like many involved in peatland restoration across the Peak District, we were deeply saddened to learn that a significant wildfire swept through the Featherbed Moor research site in early May.
The fire impacted a major section of the innovative Sphagnum Lab project led by Moors for the Future Partnership, a large-scale research initiative designed to improve our understanding of Sphagnum establishment, peatland restoration, natural flood management and ecosystem resilience.
Earlier this year, more than 280,000 Sphagnum plug plants were established across the trial catchments, including 180,000 plugs donated by BeadaMoss. The project represented an important milestone in advancing evidence-based peatland restoration.
While the wildfire has undoubtedly affected the site and the surrounding habitat, early monitoring results have revealed an encouraging outcome.
According to Tom Spencer, Research & Monitoring Officer at Moors for the Future Partnership, 195 of the 198 individual Sphagnum plugs located within the burn area remained present after the fire, representing a 98% survival rate. All grouped plantings remained intact, and monitoring found that, on average, the Sphagnum patches were 11% larger than when first measured in March.
“However, this is very clear, quantified evidence that Sphagnum doesn’t burn, even in areas where the fire was hot enough to melt plastic dipwells fully into the ground.” — Tom Spencer
While some plugs have understandably suffered stress and longer-term monitoring will be needed to assess future growth and survival, the findings provide valuable evidence of the resilience of Sphagnum moss in extreme conditions.
For BeadaMoss, these early results reinforce the important role that healthy peatland vegetation can play in building resilient landscapes. Sphagnum moss helps retain water, supports biodiversity, stores carbon and contributes to healthier peat-forming ecosystems.
We extend our sincere thanks to Tom Spencer and the Moors for the Future Partnership team for their ongoing monitoring work and commitment to sharing these important findings. Despite the setback caused by the wildfire, the research continues and will provide valuable insights for peatland restoration projects across the UK and beyond.
We look forward to following the next phase of monitoring and learning more about the long-term recovery of the site.
For further information:
www.beadamoss.co.uk
What better way to end a week than to be visited by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England.
The company was wonderful, the sun was shining and we spent the afternoon exchanging knowledge and taking a tour around BeadaMoss HQ.
Thank you Joe Carter, Sarah Pullein, Daniel Lines and Dave Blackham for coming and we look forward to seeing you again at the IUCN UK Peatland Programme conference in June!
Known for their long, down-curved bills, long legs and haunting ‘cur-lee’ call, we’re talking about Curlews as today is hashtag#WorldCurlewDay!
Unfortunately, due to a decline in the breeding population, Curlews are on the Red List on the UK Conservation Status Report, making them vulnerable, endangered waders in Britain. This is further exacerbated by drained and damaged peatlands, one of the main habitats in which Curlew breeding sites occur.
Focusing on peatland restoration will promote biodiversity and support the habitat that Curlew’s rely on from February to July. Planting Sphagnum stabilises peat surface and is a great way to produce the optimal environment for the development of native peatland communities.
For further information on peatland restoration and the work we’re doing at BeadaMoss, click the link below: https://lnkd.in/ePQxxWE2
We’ve been developing something exciting at BeadaMoss – a modified planting machine designed specifically for Sphagnum moss restoration.
Built from a vegetable planting system and adapted for peatland conditions, this machinery has the potential to:
Significantly increase planting speed
Operate without PTO or electricity
Free up skilled teams to focus on more complex terrain
Early upland trials have successfully handled tougher ground, including heather debris.
Now, we’re looking to take the next step.
We’re inviting partners to trial the machine in real-world restoration settings.
We’re particularly interested in:
Upland testing (including the three-row setup)
Higher-density planting approaches
Combined planting (e.g. Sphagnum + cotton grass)
This is a chance to:
Get early access to new restoration technology
Help shape the next iteration of the machine
Contribute to scaling peatland restoration in a meaningful way
If you’re working in restoration and would like to be involved, let’s talk.
Sphagnum moss is a wonder moss, its ability to hold water in the landscape, to improve its own boggy ecosystem conditions, great for peatland plant species and great for people.
How do conservation teams know which Sphagnum moss species to plant where to ensure it thrives?
Over 280,000 Sphagnum plug plants (including 180,000 donated by BeadaMoss) have now been successfully planted across three experimental mini-catchments as part of the ‘Sphagnum Lab’, delivered by Moors for the Future Partnership.
This marks a real “lift-off” moment for the project. With baseline data collected and planting now complete, the foundations are in place for long-term research that will help refine best practice in Sphagnum restoration.
The scale of the planting techniques trial is particularly exciting:
• 150+ monitored quadrats
• Two species mixes
• Three planting densities
• Multiple planting strategies (individual plugs vs grouped plugs)
• Tested across both wet and dry conditions
Alongside this, the Sphagnum Lab will enable more detailed research into key areas such as Natural Flood Management. It will also act as a powerful engagement tool for Moors for the Future Partnership and the National Trust, helping bring peatland restoration to life for the public, students, corporates, journalists, and policy-makers.
Projects like this showcase the far-reaching benefits across multiple ecosystem services – from carbon sequestration and biodiversity improvement to wildfire mitigation, while also improving water quality and reducing flood risk.
A big thank you to everyone involved – Tom Spencer, Moors for the Future Partnership, and Rebel Restoration, Peak Park Foundation, Severn Trent – for delivering this phase of the project.
We’re proud to support this work and look forward to seeing the results develop over the coming seasons.
Please follow BeadaMoss for further updates!
Coming Autumn 2026 – BeadaMoss CPD training in the role of Sphagnum moss in Peatland Restoration.
Peatlands are one of the UK’s most important natural assets for carbon storage, water regulation, and biodiversity – yet many remain degraded and underperforming.
This Autumn, BeadaMoss will be launching a series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) 5hr in-person group sessions focused on the role of Sphagnum moss in peatland restoration projects.
Designed for policymakers, environmental consultancies, and restoration practitioners, these sessions will offer a practical, science-led insight into:
▪️Sphagnum biology and its role in peat formation
▪️Peatlands as integrated, functioning ecosystems
▪️The critical re-vegetation stage in restoration
▪️Environmental benefits including carbon sequestration, water management, and biodiversity
▪️Real-world project delivery, funding models, and emerging carbon markets
Delivered at our East Leake facility, the programme combines:
▪️Classroom learning
▪️Field-based observation
▪️Laboratory identification
As peatland restoration scales to meet net zero and biodiversity targets, understanding the role of vegetation – particularly Sphagnum – has never been more important.
If you’re interested in receiving further information, please send us a direct message or get in touch. (Sorry, we can’t offer places to individuals, Government bodies, academia, eNGO & corporates only)
We’re excited to share a new BeadaMoss Academic Spotlight featuring – Jiacheng Gao!
We want to celebrate our partners and share the meaningful work that is happening in the Sphagnum space, and Allen has kindly provided insight into his research project at University of Warwick.
Thank you Jiacheng Gao for giving us a glimpse into both the rewarding and challenging aspects of your research. We’ve loved supporting you and we’re excited for what the future holds!
Full Academic Spotlight can be found here – https://beadamoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/BeadaMoss-Spotlight-Jiacheng-Allen-Gao.pdf
“BeadaHumok® are sterile.”
We hear that a lot.
But here’s the reality:
Clean doesn’t mean empty.
Wild translocation moves everything – the good microbes, the bad pathogens, invasive seeds, pests. It’s biologically rich… and biologically unpredictable.
Sphagnum biome photo credit Allen Gao
BeadaHumok® takes a different path.
We reduce harmful elements while retaining functional biology – including proven methanotroph presence. That means supporting the processes peatlands rely on, without importing unnecessary risk.
The real question isn’t:
“Does it have a biome?”
It’s:
“What kind of biome are we introducing?”
Restoration shouldn’t be random. It should be intentional.
Full article here:
https://lnkd.in/ex4CMppg
Credit to Jiacheng Gao for the video and photos
We swapped our office and greenhouse for wellies and a day of planting on Hartoft Rigg last week!
It was so rewarding to plant BeadaHumok® Sphagnum plugs and cottongrass for a peatland restoration project on Hartoft Rigg, as well as spending time with our friends from North York Moors National Park. Thank you Ed and Becky for having us!
