Guidance

Creating a blanket bog restoration plan

Updated 3 October 2023

Applies to England

You may need to submit a blanket bog restoration plan if you’re applying for a licence to burn heather or grass on deep peat in a protected site.

Your blanket bog restoration plan must include:

• a map of the area
• the condition of the blanket bog
• details of any issues with restoring the habitat
• evidence of why you need to burn

The restoration plan you submit should have been written or revised after 1 May 2021.

1. A map of the blanket bog

You must provide a map of the blanket bog and surrounding area as a PDF or JPEG file.

You should label the centre of your map with an 8-figure Ordnance Survey (OS) grid reference. You can find this using the OS map explorer and right clicking on the location.

The map must include the following details.

Different habitats

Using a clear key, you should label areas of blanket bog and other habitats such as:

• flushes and fens
• dry heath
• acid grassland
• scree

Proposed burning locations

You should mark each individual proposed burn location as a polygon and label this with the maximum size of the area you plan to burn (in metres squared).

2. Identifying the condition of the blanket bog

You must identify the condition of the blanket bog on your land using the following ‘states’:

• state 2: bare peat
• state 2a: revegetated bare peat
• state 3: dwarf shrub dominated blanket bog
• state 4: grass or sedge dominated blanket bog
• state 5: modified blanket bog with high dwarf shrub cover but with sphagnum and other mire species
• state 6: active hummock, hollow or ridge blanket bog

Read the Uplands Management Group blanket bog land management guidance about how to identify different blanket bog states.

Recording the condition of the blanket bog

You will need to include the following evidence in your plan:

• photographs or detailed survey data showing the types and amounts of plant species on the site
• the vegetation composition and structure for the area you plan to burn, including the percentage cover, height and age of heather and other important species
• evidence that at least 75% of the area is made up of a single species and sphagnum mosses are absent or scarce, such as photographs, notes and grid references
• the location of areas of good quality blanket bog, and how you plan to protect them
• survey information showing that the blanket bog is in bad condition

3. Issues with restoring the habitat

You must show how you plan to fix any issues with restoring the habitat across the landholding. For each issue you must explain:

• what the issue is
• how the issue affects the condition of the blanket bog habitat
• anything you’ve done previously to fix the issue – for example, if you’ve applied lime, seed and fertiliser
• what you’re currently doing to fix the issue

You must also provide details of any other steps you have taken to manage the blanket bog habitat, including:

• when the blanket bog habitat was last burned or cut
• your grazing regime (if you have one)
• how you have addressed any drainage issues – such as gullies, grips and peat pipes

4. Providing evidence for why burning is needed

You will need to show why you need to burn as part of your plan to restore the blanket bog habitat.

Your plan should include evidence that:

• the blanket bog is unlikely to improve without intervention – for example, long-term data showing there has been no positive change despite other issues being addressed
• you’ve considered alternatives to burning and why they’re impractical or inappropriate – for example, why you cannot cut the area to remove the heather canopy instead of burning it
• you have the necessary restoration measures in place for your proposals to work and reduce the need to burn in future – for example, rewetting the land
• any proposed burning would not need to be repeated in the same area

You’ll also need to provide details of actions you will take to improve the blanket bog after burning has been carried out. This may include:

• when you’ll reintroduce sphagnum mosses and the method you’ll use
• how you plan to address any areas of bare peat in the future
• other things you’re proposing to do in order to improve blanket bog condition alongside burning – for example, introducing other blanket bog species to the burn area