English summary

Description of LIFE project 2010 - 2013

Holmegaard Mose was originally a large raised bog of up to 500 hectares. Some 200 years ago people began to drain the bog to cut peat, which was notably used for heating and for fuel at Holmegaard Glassworks. The draining resulted in the large, open bog surface overgrown with birch after digging ceased. Also digging left 40 open peat cuttings. Here, Holmegaard Mose is photographed from the glassworks in the years following the second World War, while peat was dug in cuttings close to the glassworks (photo from Næstved Museum).

Holmegaard Mose is one of several bogs along river Suså, some of which are protected as habitats under the EU Habitats Directive.

LIFE Holmegaard Mose project 2010 - 2013 aimed at raising the water level and clearing birch wood in the central and western part of the bog, and to start a recreation of a part of the original raised bog. Project area is 260 hectares.

Raising water and purifying the water that runs through the bog. The map shows where and what is done with the water in the LIFE project. See Image Gallery for examples.

Map from the technical "Scenario 3.1", which is the basis of the LIFE project. All installations are done except the two "Reduction" areas. The blue color shows the expected water level increase in three ranges: 0-25 cm, 25-50 cm and > 50 cm.

Clearance. The map shows where and how a total of almost 100 hectares are cleared as part of the project. The total cleared area is 145 ha. See Image Gallery (Billedgalleri) for examples.

Recurrent management. Before LIFE project the raised bog was cared manually and with sheep grazing on newly deforested land. This is continued in the LIFE project, however, with focus more closely on manual care on the basis of cooperation with Næstved Municipality. See Image Gallery for examples.

Monitoring of peat moss in sub areas. Monitoring reveals an increased coverage of peat moss (green dots) in the cleared areas - also where scenario 3.1. map is not blue. Yellow dots indicate unchanged peat moss coverage, mainly where it’s already high. The cause is believed to be water level increase and the effect of clearing: less evaporation and more light. See monitoring reports (in English) under Project Documents.

Dissemination in LIFE project: Info boards at points of access to the bog (1 and 2). Dissemination as Nature Agency has supplemented with: A boardwalk (3), a lookout tower (4) and two marked paths: blue route - 3 km and red route - 5 km. See Project Documents (Projektdokumenter) for actual dissemination elements.

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En del af EU LIFE+ programmet

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