Proposed peatland restoration at Portmoak Moss
Woodland Trust Scotland has been consulting on plans to remove a large number of trees to improve the condition of the raised bog at our Portmoak Moss site in Kinross-shire.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on our original proposal. We recognise there’s significant local interest in the plan and appreciate everyone sharing their views so openly. It was especially helpful to meet recently with local councillors and reps from the community who have differing views.
The official consultation period closed on 12 January 2026 and we are currently reflecting on what you have told us. Over the next few months, we will explore options to develop our proposal. This includes talking to technical experts at NatureScot and Scottish Forestry, the relevant statutory agencies.
The next steps and any changes to our original proposal will be shared here. We'll also look to organise a face-to-face workshop to give the community an opportunity to comment, ideally before the end of February 2026. This will be advertised locally and on social media.
About Portmoak Moss
Portmoak Moss is a 44-hectare lowland raised bog near Scotlandwell, Perth and Kinross. Historically managed for peat cutting, it was drained and planted with non-native conifers by the Forestry Commission in the 1960s, before the Woodland Trust bought it in 1996 with the help of the community. ‘The Moss’ is well-loved and used by the local community, with the Portmoak Community Woodland Group having been instrumental in helping with its day-to-day management.
Since owning the site, we’ve completed several forest-to-bog restoration actions on the central area of the Moss. Twelve hectares of non-native conifer woodland were felled and restored as open peat bog between 2000 and 2005, followed by drains being blocked, cut peat edges being reprofiled and regenerating trees being removed. While these interventions have markedly improved the bog habitat, it is not yet functioning without intensive management to continually remove regenerating trees – a sign that the bog is still not wet enough.
To find a solution, we approached Peatland Action in 2023 for their advice regarding a sustainable, long-term fix. They suggested a significant restoration project to restore almost the entire site to a functioning raised bog.
What are we proposing?
Applying to Peatland Action for funding to undertake significant restoration of the raised bog, which comprises almost the entire site.
The restoration project involves two key stages:
- clear felling the remaining non-native conifers and native woodland on the areas of deepest peat
- undertaking extensive peatland restoration including blocking drains, building peat barriers and mulching regenerating trees.
Why are we proposing such large-scale restoration?
Lowland raised bogs are incredibly rare habitats. When functioning properly, they are huge carbon sinks and provide an extremely valuable habitat for specialist plants, invertebrates, breeding waders, wildfowl and ground-nesting birds.
Although felling trees to manage an open habitat might seem counter-intuitive for our work, we promote the ethos of ‘right tree, right place’. Trees growing on the site have been planted in the wrong place – on a rare, valuable peatland habitat. Restoring this habitat should massively increase the biodiversity value of the site.
The conifers are of an age where they’re now susceptible to blow over in storms. They were planted close together and on inappropriate peat soils, and in recent years we’ve seen trees blow down. Combining restoration of this important peatland at the same time as felling the trees will ensure disturbance at the site is kept to a minimum.
What will happen?
- Clear felling of non-native conifer woodland. We’re proposing around 25 hectares of predominantly non-native conifers be felled around the part of the Moss which is currently open habitat. These areas will be restored as raised bog. Some areas of native woodland (mainly Scots pine and birch) will also be felled where they’re growing on the deepest peat.
- Stump flipping and ground smoothing felled areas. Diggers will turn over felled tree stumps and drive over them to create a smooth layer to the restored bog, which will be able to hold more water.
- Installing peat dams to block drains. Existing plastic dams in some drains will be bolstered with additional peat dams. More peat dams will block drains currently open in the felled areas. We won’t block any of the drains which form the site boundary.
- Constructing peat barriers. Cracks in the peat will be closed by sub-surface peat barriers (known as bunds). Additional peat bunds will be created to make a network of smaller ‘cell’ bunds around 5m x 5m.
- Reprofiling steep cut edges. Some areas around the western steps to the Moss have previously been reprofiled where historic peat cutting took place. All steep edges will be reprofiled to flatten these edges, keeping more water on the bog.
What will Portmoak Moss look like post-restoration?
Portmoak Moss will largely be an open peatland habitat with small areas of mostly native woodland. The main areas of remaining woodland will be around Wellburn and the car park. We’ll look to block the drainage ditches in these areas to create a wet woodland habitat, buffering the core peatland restoration area by rewetting the entire site.
The site will look messy for the first couple of years after the restoration. However, as the vegetation recovers on the disturbed peat, we should see more sphagnum mosses (peat-forming mosses) returning to replace the heather and wavy-hair grass which are currently growing, both of which signal that the bog is currently too dry to be functioning properly.
When will this happen?
If our Peatland Action funding application is successful, tree felling will take place in autumn 2026 with peatland restoration work taking place in winter 2026/27.
How can I get involved?
The felling and peatland restoration work will be completed by contractors because they are specialist, large-scale jobs.
Once the initial restoration work is complete, we’ll continue to run work parties on the Moss together with the Portmoak Community Woodland Group to pull out regenerating birch trees. Contractors will also be used to help remove regeneration if necessary. This will be crucial in the first few years after peatland restoration as the ground disturbance will create an initial pulse of regeneration before settling.
How will it impact me?
Public access will be restricted during the works as we need to ensure the public is safe when we’re felling and removing trees. While we aim to keep path closures to a minimum, some temporary closures will be necessary. These will be publicised locally.
It’s difficult to predict exactly how the bog will react to the restoration measures. Some of the paths will likely be wetter and many of the informal paths around the site boundary may become inaccessible.
Allowing visitors and the local community to continue to access the Moss is very important us. If the surfaced path becomes too wet after restoration, we will seek funding to install a boardwalk. We will also look to upgrade boundary paths, funding permitting.
For further information please email Scotland@woodlandtrust.org.uk