The
Wet Woods Restoration Project aims to restore areas
of bog woodland and floodplain woodland at five sites
in Scotland. The Project was set up by the Caledonian
Partnership, an innovative partnership of non-governmental
conservation organisations and government forestry,
conservation and research agencies, all with a wide
experience of native woodland restoration.
The Partnership
received funding from the European
Union's LIFE-Nature Programme to start work
on a series of conservation initiatives in May
1998. Four years later, in May 2002, the Project
officially came to an end. However, work inspired
by the Project will continue for many years yet.
Spreading the word… Communicating information about the Wet Woods
restoration work - sharing ideas, problems and
solutions with others, as well as raising public
awareness - is one of the main objectives of this
LIFE project. Hear
more about how we achieved this
Take a tour of the site and find out what makes Wet
Woods special and what the Project has achieved.
Some
of the pages have 'Printer friendly' versions and can
be printed by clicking the following image:
What are Wet Woods?
Wet
Woods are recognised as internationally important
habitats. They are rich in wildlife and contribute
to the variety of life, otherwise known as the
'biodiversity', in our environment.
Bog
woodland and floodplain
woodland are listed as priority habitats for
which sites, known as Special Areas of Conservation,
are designated under the European Community Habitats
Directive. These woods, along with other wetland
habitats, are a rare and declining resource in
Europe, having experienced a long history of interference
with the hydrological systems on which they depend.
Bog
woodlands have been drained for agriculture
and forestry. The quality of water sustaining the
bog can be affected by these activities and other
land uses within the immediate catchment area. The
fertile sites of floodplain
woods have been cleared for arable farming and
grazing, or planted with commercial tree crops.
Water use and drainage upstream can alter water
quality and seasonal flooding patterns, as can engineering
works for flood prevention. These factors, together
with the displacement of natural vegetation by exotic
trees and shrubs, have led to a decline in the condition
of most surviving wet woods.
The
Wet Woods Restoration Project aims to restore areas
of bog woodland and floodplain woodland at five sites
in Scotland. The Project was set up by the Caledonian
Partnership, an innovative partnership of non-governmental
conservation organisations and government forestry,
conservation and research agencies, all with a wide
experience of native woodland restoration.
Wet
Woods are recognised as internationally important
habitats. They are rich in wildlife and contribute
to the variety of life, otherwise known as the
'biodiversity', in our environment. 
