Dovestone's award fillip

Pictured (left-right) are Dave O’Hara, RSPB Site Manager at Dovestone, Ian Harper United Utilities Catchment Partnership Officer Southern team, Geoff Carr, Ecologist and Liam Kilbride, United Utilities Catchment Manager, Southern team

Two RSPB/United Utilities partnership conservation projects have received accolades at this year’s Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management’s Annual Awards (CIEEM).

The Awards, which were held last week in London, are judged by a highly qualified panel of ecologists and recognise excellence in environmental management across the UK. 

The RSPB and United Utilities team at Dovestone won the Large Scale Conservation Award for its upland restoration work across an area roughly the size of 5,800 football pitches. 

Much of this work has focussed on restoring internationally important peatlands, which had been damaged by a combination of atmospheric pollution, moorland fires and heavy livestock grazing.

Healthy peatlands lock up harmful carbon, help improve water quality and benefit a range of wildlife.

By planting vegetation on bare peat, sowing sphagnum moss – the building block of upland peatland habitats – and blocking eroded gullies, the team has helped the peatland begin to recover and is already seeing positive results including an increase in birds such as curlews.

Elsewhere on the site, the team has restored and created variety of other habitats including a new woodland.

The RSPB/United Utilities team at Haweswater in the Lake District also received recognition from the CIEEM, receiving a High Commended in the Large Scale Conservation category for its Swindale restoration project.

Dave O’Hara, Site Manager for the RSPB at Dovestone, said: “It’s fantastic to get this recognition from the professional body that represents ecologists across the UK. 

"It shows that a partnership between a water company and a conservation charity can deliver real results, and sends a message that our landscapes can be better places with the right attitude and some hard work. 

“We would like to especially thank the many local volunteers who have helped us achieve this at Dove Stone.  From planting sphagnum mosses to meeting visitors, and from digging in heather bale dams holding back water on the hill to litter picking, local people are integral to all we do.”

The CIEEM Awards are just the latest in a series of recent accolades bestowed on the RSPB/United Utilities partnership work at Dovestone and Haweswater.

In 2016, Dovestone received the Natura 2000 Award for conservation.