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A Crichton Carbon Centre Project  

Connecting and Re-Connecting People to Peatlands  

Through Art & Science Approaches 

 

 

 

Let’s begin at the beginning… 

SOIL 

 

That precious stuff beneath our feet that supports  

life on earth. 

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PEAT 

 

A dark, squadgy, organic, waterlogged, anaerobic, acidic, carbon storing soil. 

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PEAT MAKES PEATLANDS  

AND  

PEATLANDS MAKE PEAT 

Peatlands, bogs, and mires are unique wet landscapes. The plants that grow on peatlands: sphagnum mosses, cotton grasses, sundews, bog asphodel, bog cranberry, form a low-lying carpet of vegetation. This interwoven living carpet of plants absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which becomes locked as carbon into their cell structures. As the plants die, but not fully decay, peat forms and the carbon in their cells becomes locked into the earth.  

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Our peatlands have been gradually forming since our last ice age, taking years to form millimetres. 

 

The thick layer of vegetation and organic matter protects the peat forming system beneath, keeping things wet and acidic, physically holding peat in place and protecting it from rain, wind, and ice erosion. 

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60% OF THE UK’S PEATLANDS ARE IN SCOTLAND 

 

Many of Scotland’s peatlands are scored with artificial drains. 

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Drainage disrupts the natural hydrology, drying out the land, which ultimately degrades the peatland, its flora and fauna, and can lead to peat erosion.  

What were once inconspicuous drains can erode into huge gullies, metres deep, releasing thousands of years of carbon back into the atmosphere. 

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This is where the Crichton Carbon Centre come in.

Keeping Carbon Where It Belongs  

 

Our Goals  

 

Saving the Carbon in Peatland Carefully 

Balancing People & Environment Collaboratively 

Exchanging Knowledge Respectfully 

Educating People Creatively 

Researching for Action Pragmatically  

Building Natural Capital Continually 

Spreading Good Practice Effectively  

Valuing Ecosystems Fairly  

Stabilising eroding peat, and raising the water table, are the single most important actions to reduce carbon loss from our peat soils. 

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We need to manage and restore our peatlands carefully to keep their hydrology intact. 

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Raised hags created through erosion are levelled,  

drainage diches are blocked to re-wet the peat, 

and bare peat is held in place using geo-textile.

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Climate Changes in Scotland including hotter, drier, weather, storms, and rainfall deluges are contributing to increased erosion on bare, exposed peat. 

Aware of Climate Changes 

Aware of Climate Crisis 

Aware of Soil Crisis  

 

What steps can we take to 

Repair our Peatlands 

and 

Raise Awareness 

Art, like science, sheds light on the world around us. 

Combining art with science can reach out to and engage with wider and more diverse audiences.  

This is exciting! 

Art offers another way of grappling with environmental issues and complexities and 

re - presents landscapes. 

CCC Peatland Collection Eco-garment Residency 

Morag Macpherson, 2023 

Shot of “Sunken Cloth” 

Photo: Duncan Ireland  

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Stuart Mugridge, 2023 

CCC Water Cycle Artist in Residence 

Evangeline Morris, 2023 

CCC Upper Urr Artist in Residence

WE CONSTANTLY ASK OURSELVES 

 

What projects, research, actions, experiments, initiatives can we enact and deliver that enable us to tackle ecological issues and Climate Crises? 

 

What role do we play in ensuring that all citizens have the power to act for a sustainable future? 

 

What steps can we take that help us meet the challenges of Climate Crisis? 

Keeping Carbon Where It Belongs  

 

Our Goals  

 

Saving the Carbon in Peatland Carefully 

Balancing People & Environment Collaboratively 

Exchanging Knowledge Respectfully 

Educating People Creatively 

Researching for Action Pragmatically  

Building Natural Capital Continually 

Spreading Good Practice Effectively  

Valuing Ecosystems Fairly  

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