A pilot forest-to-peatland restoration project has been launched in Tullychurry, Co Fermanagh, as part of a €4.9 million scheme.

The project is being delivered under the INTERREG VA funded Source to Tap scheme which aims to protect and improve our rivers and lakes in the Erne and Derg cross border catchments.

The team are now working to restore approximately 32ha of the previous commercial conifer plantation to a functioning bog in Tullychurry. The pilot is trialling a technique called cell bunding and comparing the recovery of the water table in the bog to other areas where rather than building cell bunds only the drains are blocked. The restoration will demonstrate multiple benefits for nature, carbon capture and water quality in the future.

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Source to Tap is funded and supported by the European Union's INTERREG VA Programme, with match funding from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) in Ireland and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, (SEUPB).

NI Water is the lead partner and the Source to Tap project unites water companies from both sides of the Ireland-Northern Ireland border, with Irish Water a partner as well as bringing together the Agri-Food Biosciences Institute, Ulster University, The Rivers Trust and East Border Region.

Initial results from the pilot will be made available in a technical report in 2021.