Thorne, Crowle and Goole Moors Site of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSI) is the largest terrestrial SSSI in England. Much of
the moors are curently in unfavourable condition due to the
moors having been actively cut for peat up until a decade ago. This
has left a legacy of lowered water levels and a destroyed mire
surface which Natural England have been helping to
restore.
Doncaster East Internal Drainage Board (IDB) is
leading a consortium of drainage boards in the implementation of a
new Water Level Management Plan for Thorne, Crowle and Goole Moors
in partnership with Natural England, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
and other landowners in and around the moors.
The IDB consortium is made of six drainage boards, these
are:
The aim of the project is to bring the site into favourable
condition by controlling the water levels across the site at an
suitable depth to facilitate the growth of peat-forming vegetation,
such as cotton grasses and Sphagnum mosses. In order to achieve
this aim by 2016, the project has been given a grant of £2.9m by
the Environment Agency.
The project aims to achieve the optimum water levels across the
site through a combination of:
- Drain blocking
- Peat re-profiling
- Scrub clearance
- Lagg fen creation
- Engineering (pumping, weirs, piling
- Micro-bunding
The project is overseen by a Steering Group, the membership of
which is made up of the six IDBs, the Local PLanning Authorities,
Statutory Authorities, landowners and interested parties. The
Steering Group meets twice yearly.
