23rd March 2026
Balnagown Announces the Start of Phase Three of its Peatland Restoration Project
Balnagown is excited to have started phase three of its peatland restoration plan. Following successful projects at Carn beag and Glen Muic this latest initiative is a 169ha site at Dalnaclave to the west of the River Cassley in Sutherland. Once this phase is finished the estate will have completed c760ha of peatland restoration with more in the pipeline.
Enhancing Carbon Storage Naturally
The Dalnaclave site, although half the size of Phase One, holds deeper peat and as a result is expected to be able to store roughly a third more carbon in total. Work will consist of a variety of restoration techniques including, wave and dam re-profiling, cell and surface bunding and micro-erosion repairs.
An ongoing breeding bird survey will also take place during spring and summer to ensure that work will be able to continue without endangering the life or habitats of bird species in the area with the project scheduled to complete Autumn 2026.
Peatland restoration helps the environment in a variety of ways, including improving water quality by controlling flow rates thus helping to reduce flooding and drought and buffer against peaks and troughs of water temperature in surrounding burns. It will also regenerate and grow the distinct peatland ecosystem adding to the biodiversity of the area.
“Balnagown is very pleased to have this, the final part of its current Peatland Restoration underway. We are looking forward over the next 5 – 10 years to seeing the positive impact that it brings to the local environment.”
Callum Paterson, Estate Manager
Impact in Every Acre
The Dalnaclave site covers c169ha, the equivalent of 250 football fields, and is forecasted to prevent the emission of over 30,000 carbon units (tCO2e). To illustrate, the average mileage of a diesel car in the UK is about 10,000 miles which accounts for roughly 3 tCO2e therefore the amount of carbon sequestered would be the equivalent of running 10,000 average diesel cars for a year.
We would like to thank Caledonian Climate and Angus Estate Plant for all their hard work in making the project possible and this project could not have been conducted without the help of Peatland Action and NatureScot.
