One of the most ambitious peatland restoration projects ever consented to a developer in the UK is now complete on the outskirts of East Kilbride.
ScottishPower Renewables’ £1.4 million project marks a significant milestone in valuable habitat conservation and climate change mitigation at Whitelee Windfarm in Eaglesham, bringing SPRs investment in peatland restoration to £4million to date.
Degraded peatlands release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, accounting for around 15 per cent of Scotland’s emissions, but healthy peatlands store carbon and have a net cooling effect on the climate, so they’re critical to mitigating the effects of climate change.
There were concerns that wind farms on peak bogs would degrade the local environment, so it’s good to see them actually improving things. Restoring the uplands will also help address flooding downstream - mismanagement of grouse moors is thought to be a big contributor to the speed of runoff in some areas. Why we should bin the toffs out.
1,113 hectares! Wow!