We were able to buy Glenullin Bog in early 2020, with the help of funding from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and gifts in Wills from Ulster Wildlife members. However, not long after the sale was completed the entire world changed,  With diggers appearing on the bog before Christmas, people in the local area must have wondered what has been going on.

The site had been badly drained and burned in the past, so we knew it needed restoration to become a healthy, functioning peat bog.  

After acquiring the site, we commissioned a vegetation survey, followed by a fly-over plane survey that mapped heights and slopes. An ecological survey company (RPS) was then commissioned to provide options for bog restoration – these ranged from simply installing some peat dams, to a comprehensive project that included dams, contour bunds (a trench filled with compressed peat) and sluices. At the same time, we installed a weather station and water level monitoring equipment on site to tell us what the water table is doing.

After securing additional funding from the NIEA Challenge Fund, restoration work finally got underway this winter with diggers creating nearly five and a half miles of bunding and installing 475 dams to hold back water. By raising the water table these works will help restore peat-forming conditions at Glenullin Bog and provide a range of benefits including increased biodiversity, reduced local flood risk, and combatting climate change through carbon storage.

With a bit of luck, Glenullin Bog will get very wet – this is already a fantastic site for dragonflies, damselflies and a range of other wetland-loving insects but it should get much better over time. The richness of insects found here attracts birds like the meadow pipit who in turn act as surrogate parents for the local cuckoo chicks each year. We hope these restoration works will enhance the area for species like these, safeguarding them for future generations to come.

We hope to involve the local community more in our future plans for the site; for now, it’s a matter of watching and waiting to see if the restoration works do the job they’re supposed to do. 

~ Andy Crory, Nature Reserves Manager