The broad aim of the Wet Woods Restoration Project was to restore and enhance some of the most important areas of bog woodland and floodplain woodland in the United Kingdom and to remove or mitigate existing threats to these rare habitat types.

These sites are located on or adjacent to five areas selected as candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSACs) under the EC Habitats Directive. When fully designated, SACs will become part of the Natura network of sites, designed to conserve natural habitats and species which are rare, endangered or vulnerable across the European Community. More information on the Habitats Directive and SACs is available on the website of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

The broad aim of the Project encompasses several objectives:

1. To restore significant areas of wet wood habitat on or adjacent to sites that are candidate Special Areas of Conservation to a more favourable condition.
2. To undertake scientific research to inform restoration, management and monitoring plans for wet wood habitats.
3. To disseminate the information gained throughout the project via the existing network of partner institutions in order to demonstrate and promote an integrated approach to the conservation of wet woodlands.
4. To support the ongoing work of developing partnerships between public agencies and private landowners.

Listed below are some of the tasks undertaken on the Project sites which have helped towards achieving these objectives:

Objective 1:

• The reinstatement of more natural hydrological systems
• Appropriate land management on adjacent areas through the restructuring of surrounding plantation forests and the creation of buffer zones of native woodlands
• Removal or control of exotic trees and shrubs to allow the regeneration of natural communities

Objective 2:

• Research into the history of bog woodland development and the impacts of past and present management on the wet woods sites
• Evaluation of currently held remote sensing data as potential aid to monitoring in the future
  

Objectives 3 and 4:

• Demonstration of 'best practice' on wet woods sites to promote management of the habitats throughout Scotland and the UK.
• Dissemination of information and knowledge gained via a series of open days and demonstrations, site visits, a European wide seminar, and via websites.