Co-op and the RSPB

An initial £1million investment in 2023, generated by sales of Co-op compostable carrier bags, is supporting two Peatland Code registered projects that will help the ongoing restoration and long-term management of over 300 hectares of internationally important, RSPB-owned peatland across Wales and Scotland, with further sites to follow at RSPB reserves in Scotland.  

These long-term projects, also supported by National Peatland Action Programme in Wales and Peatland ACTION in Scotland, will protect the precious peatlands that local communities enjoy and that are home to many rare and threatened species, and help to avoid the emission of the equivalent of 40,000 tonnes of CO2. 

The new partnership forms part of Co-op’s Climate Plan commitments to fund UK natural restoration however, Co-op will not be counting this work towards its carbon reduction targets or using this as an ‘offset’ to make claims towards carbon neutrality.

Peatlands are unique wetlands made up of rich organic soil and mossy vegetation, and are among the most valuable ecosystems for nature and carbon on Earth. Peatlands improve our water quality, support natural flood management, are home to an array of special species and provide wild places for people to enjoy too.  

In the UK, peatland covers around 12% of our land area and stores over 3 billion tonnes of carbon, however over 80% of it is degraded. Find out more here.

Initially the Co-op/ RSPB partnership will support the protection of degraded blanket bog at three RSPB reserves: RSPB Lake Vyrnwy in Powys, Wales and areas of Yell and Forsinard Flows in Scotland. Combined, this means an area the size of Monaco (more than 600 football pitches!) is being restored. Let's take a look at what's happening on the ground!

In the north of Scotland lies the Flow Country, the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe. It’s currently in the running to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Formed over 10,000 years, the peat reaches 10 metres in depth in some places and holds more carbon than all the UK’s forests. As well as providing essential mitigation in the face of the climate emergency, these wet uplands are a haven for threatened wildlife. 

The RSPB manages 21,000 hectares of the Flow Country. Visitors to RSPB Forsinard Flows can see Golden Plovers, Dunlins and Greenshanks feasting on invertebrates while Hen Harriers cruise overhead, scoping out small mammals. The pools and inland lochs support breeding populations of rare Red-throated and Black-throated Divers. Carnivorous plants, Sundew and Butterwort, feast on flies in this insect-rich landscape. 

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, parts of the land had been repurposed for commercial forestry, drying out the bog and causing declines in the native wildlife. Forsinard Flows was acquired in the 1990s to restore this rare habitat. After felling non-native trees and blocking ditches, the team have been trialling a variety of management techniques to find those most effective for blanket bog restoration. 

Cerniau at is at the southern end of the Berwyn mountains range, which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protected Area and Special Site of Scientific Interest. It is part of the largest area of blanket bog and European dry heath in Wales and considered to be the most important upland block in Wales for breeding birds. 

Work at this site involves rewetting areas of degraded blanket bog, starting with an intense 3 year period of restoration (also supported by the National Peatland Action Programme in Wales) followed by a long period of maintenance, enhancement and monitoring to ensure the project is delivering on its outcomes over the next 65 years.  

This project will eventually provide nesting and foraging habitat for a range of breeding birds including Hen Harrier, Merlin, Peregrine and Red Kite. It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce erosion, improve water quality and enhance water storage at the site, providing resilience against extreme weather events.  

Lumbister is part of RSPB Yell, situated on one of Shetland’s most northerly isles, and is dominated by blanket bog and wet heath habitats with deep peat that is often over 1 metre in depth. 

Building on a first phase of work, which took place in 2021 and restored 95ha of peatland, the project at this site will involve a programme of restoration works, supported by Peatland ACTION, to block ditches that are actively draining the peatland and restore significant areas of eroding peatland features. 

With Co-op’s support this will be followed by a long period of maintenance, enhancement and monitoring over the next 100 years.

Ultimately, this project will help bring the local habitat at Lumbister back into good condition. This includes building the resilience of the site, protecting vital carbon stores as well as improving the variety of plant and animal life that call it home, including birds such as Snipe, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Curlew, and Whimbrel, Otters and scarce plants like Bog Orchid.

As a recognised leader for its social goals and community-led programmes, Co-op does things differently – bringing people together to take action and making things fairer for their members and communities and fairer for the planet. 

As a business, Co-op is committed to becoming Net Zero by 2040 (2035 in their operations). They are prioritising making long-term changes to how they do business, setting near-term science-based targets and rapidly reducing the carbon in their operations and products. Natural restoration and innovation play a vital part in reaching their commitments, as does empowering their members and communities to protect our environment, restore nature and tackle climate change on their doorstep by equipping them with tools and resources. 

*The governments introduced a levy on every sale of carrier bags in England, Scotland and Wales to help reduce the impact of single-use carrier bags. Co-op donates the profits from the sale of our compostable bags to good causes across the UK including our Local Community Fund which helps improve communities across the UK.

**The carbon offset credits generated from the partnership will simply be ‘retired’ but will be a good indicator and measure of the climate impact that this partnership is delivering. 

• All phase one work has been completed and our investment in Cerniau is now complete. This site has been successfully restored to a healthy peatland, and it’s working actively to store carbon. It’s home to an abundance of wildlife and local people have been employed to manage the land.
• Across the three sites, Co-op has funded local staff to help with the restoration and manage the land on an ongoing basis.
• Co-op and the RSPB have supported local economies by employing local people as contractors on all of the sites. Half of the contractors employed at Cerniau were under 25, and one was a tenant farmer.
• Our investment has enabled the upskilling of local people. We’ve also run engagement programmes with schools, training programmes on rare plants, and hosted work experience people and volunteers.
• We have undertaken surveys to examine breeding species, water tables and peat depths across the sites.
• We’ve introduced innovative techniques to manage water direction at Cerniau – and it was so successful we’ve rolled it out to several other sites.
• We’ve spotted rare species returning to peatlands as a result of restoration work. This includes Hen Harriers, Dunlins and Golden Plovers (a species which haven’t been seen since the 1990s). A young White-tailed eagle was seen in Lumbister. And Sphagnum Medium (a rare type of bog moss), was found in two locations on Cerniau.
• Our project in Forsinard, Scotland is in an area that’s recently been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This puts it in the same category as the Great Barrier Reef! 
• King Charles has visited the work we’re doing on the Forsinard site.

Co-op have also donated £300,000 and given access to their unique network of Member Pioneers to help deliver the People’s Plan for Nature: Nature Neighbourhoods project. This is a collaboration with the RSPB, The National Trust, WWF and the National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, who have donated £750,000 to the project. Click here to find out more about Nature Neighbourhoods.

Year 2 of our partnership will see Co-op funding two new sites in Forsinard Flow Country, and a new site in Orkney. 

The People’s Plan For Nature showed us that people want to take action for nature in their communities, and to hold themselves and others to account. As a direct response and thanks to National Lottery players and to Co-op, the national charities are working with 18 selected voluntary and community partners including community centres, social enterprises and food growing schemes, to create a people-powered plan.  

Through training, financial aid and collaboration with local authorities, the organisations will be supported in mobilising their communities to take action for nature.

For further information, please contact Catherine Marr or Dave Bloor