The Trust has welcomed the announcement of £8 million funding for peatland restoration through Scottish Natural Heritage’s Peatland ACTION Project.

Jonny Hughes, the Trust’s Chief Executive and Chair of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, said: “Peatland ACTION continues to be a vital source of funding. The project has created a step change in the amount and the quality of peatland restoration taking place in Scotland.

“This new round of funding is a another welcome signal from the Scottish Government that it is serious about restoring peatlands and will help us achieve our target of restoring 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2032.

“There are two million hectares of peatland in Scotland. An estimated 70% of the nation’s blanket bogs and 90% of raised bogs have been damaged in some way. Restoring them has wide ranging benefits for nature, climate change, water quality and flood risk reduction.”

Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham announced the new funding for Peatland ACTION at the Trust’s Red Moss of Balerno Wildlife Reserve. She said: “Restoring our peatlands and taking advantage of their value as a natural resource is crucial if we are to continue to build on our world leading low carbon ambitions.”

The Trust’s network of 120 wildlife reserves includes a number of important peatlands which have formed over thousands of years. They include Red Moss of Balerno, Carsegowan Moss and Red Moss of Netherley.