GovWire

Its up to you how you complete each SFI action, as long as you do it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve the actions aim (which is described in each action).

This voluntary guidance includes advice on how you could assess moorland and produce a written record (MOR1).

You may find it helpful to read this guidance, but you do not have to follow it. The requirements you must follow for each SFI action are explained in the Details of the SFI actions which you can find in either:

• section 2 of the SFI handbook
• the webpage versions of the details of the SFI actions

How to assess moorland and produce a written record (MOR1)

What youre aiming to achieve

The aim of MOR1 is that you understand how your moorland contributes to providing environmental benefits and how it could provide more in the future.

Assessing your moorland and producing a written record

MOR1 requires you to complete a survey to identify, assess and record the soil, vegetation and historic and archaeological features across the moorland entered into this action.

This action also requires you to use the information youve collected during your survey of the moorland to identify and record:

• environmental benefits the moorland is already providing

• opportunities to maintain, enhance or restore the moorland to keep providing environmental benefits or provide more

You can choose how to complete the assessment and produce the written record required by MOR1. There is no standard format.

You can record your survey on paper or digitally. It may also be helpful to take photographs of the vegetation you assess and the surrounding area.

When to do the survey

The best time to survey moorland is between mid-July and the end of October. This avoids the main bird breeding season (March to mid-July).

Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law, so if you see signs of nesting birds, delay the survey until the birds fledge.

Try to avoid doing the survey after periods of heavy or prolonged rainfall.

Selecting your sample points

Divide your moorland into blocks of around 10 hectares (ha). If possible, try to make the blocks equally-sized.

To do this, you may find it helpful to use:

• a paper or digital Ordnance Survey (OS) map thats a scale of 1:10,000 or 1:25,000 which shows contours you can overlay the OS map with a grid to divide the moorland into, for example, 200 metres (m) x 500m rectangular blocks

• the MAGIC website (this link opens a map with the moorland line layer shown in purple) you can zoom in to a scale of 1:25000 or 1:10000 to see 10ha squares covering all land within the moorland line, each with a unique reference number

Within each 10ha block, select 3 sample points which you can safely access to complete the survey each year of your 3-year SFI agreement. You can do this by:

• dividing the 10ha block into 3 smaller areas

• selecting a sample point within each of the 3 smaller areas that broadly represents the main soil types and vegetation within the 10ha ?block

• giving each sample point a number on the OS map, so you can identify where your observations were taken

What to survey at each sample point

At each sample point, MOR1 requires you to identify, assess and record:

• soil types and condition, including the depth and wetness of any peat

• vegetation types and condition, including their height and structure

• the extent of bare ground

• the presence of historic and archaeological features, as identified in your SFI Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (SFI HEFER)

Record the number youve given the sample point on the OS map, and take a short walk around to confirm:

• the main soil types and vegetation broadly represent the surrounding area

• its safe to survey if its unsafe, choose another sample point within the 10ha block, unless the whole 10ha block is unsafe in which case record that and move to the next block

The guidance below covers what to survey for a wide range of moorland features on different soil types. Some of these may not be relevant to the moorland youre surveying. What you need to survey at each sample point will depend on the features, including soil type and ground cover, on your moorland.

What you can survey for all soil types

For all soil types, you can identify, assess (where relevant) and record the following at each sample point:

• presence of peat in the soil and its depth to indicate whether the soil type is non-peat (including minimal peat), shallow peat or deep peat

• extent of bare ground

• extent of soil erosion

• roughness of ground surface

• presence of historic or archaeological features

• presence of additional features such as trees, scrub, bracken, drains, gullies, rock and scree

You can find more information below on:

• how to assess each of these aspects

• what that assessment means for the environmental benefits the moorland is already providing

Presence and depth of peat

To assess the presence and depth of peat, you can use a thin rod or cane to probe the soil. It would be helpful to mark it with 5 centimetres (cm), 10cm, 25cm, 30cm and 40cm from its base.

Push it vertically into the soil until you feel resistance or to a depth of more than 40cm. If it meets resistance at a depth of:

• less than 5cm, record the soil type as non-peat

• between 5-40cm, record the soil type as shallow peat

• more than 40cm, record the soil type as deep peat

If there is existing data available on presence of peat and its depth, this can be used as an alternative to probing the soil.

Avoid probing the soil on areas where there are historical or archaeological features, as identified in your SFI HEFER.

Extent of bare ground

Bare ground is prone to erosion and can emit CO² to the atmosphere as organic matter decomposes. Minimal bare ground helps protect against this.

To assess the extent of bare ground, look at the overall position across the sample point and record if there are:

• mainly large, obvious patches of bare peat or soil you can also record that this as an opportunity to restore environmental benefits (carbon storage)

• small patches (less than around 20cm) of bare ground amongst thin or newly established vegetation you can also record that this as an opportunity to enhance environmental benefits (carbon storage)

• no obvious patches of bare peat or soil also record that this means environmental benefits (carbon storage) are already being provided, which can be maintained

Extent of erosion

Obvious signs of erosion include rills and gullies on exposed areas, particularly if theyre linked to water bodies. Erosion features could include vehicle tracks and footpaths. These concentrate water

View the original news story