Peatland

Introduction

"Peat is a thick, mucky substance made up of dead and decomposing plant matter. It develops over hundreds or thousands of years, as wetland vegetation slowly decays.

Although peatlands cover just 3 percent of Earth’s land area, they are second only to oceans in the amount of carbon they store—twice that held by the world’s forests, at an estimated 500 to 600 gigatons. Unlike most terrestrial ecosystems, peatlands do not reach saturation, and continue sequestering carbon in soil organic matter for centuries or millennia.

Peatlands are being degraded for agricultural, horticultural, forest, fuel, and infrastructure and by fire at a rate of 0.4 million hectares per year. Moreover, peat volume is decreasing by 20 cubic kilometers per year. Peatland degradation results in nearly 3 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year, equivalent to more than 10 percent of global fossil fuel emissions (Biancali and Avagyan, 2014). An estimated 15 percent of the world’s peatlands have been degraded so far, with nearly 50 percent of that for agricultural land use. The rate is expected to increase in the future unless land management practices and peatland development plans are changed and reconsidered.

Project Drawdown’s Peatland Protection and Rewetting solution focuses on reducing peatland degradation. safeguarding carbon sinks, and restoring and protecting currently degraded peatlands. This solution replaces the destruction of peatlands.

Luckily, most of the world’s peatlands are intact. Protecting these peatlands by preserving land and preventing fire offers a prime opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Though not as effective as preventing degradation, restoring drained and damaged peatlands also is essential." - Drawdown: Peatland Protection and Rewetting

Threats to Peatland

Farming

Almost 50% of Peatland degredation has been done to make way for farming. Farmers dredge peatlands for livestock grazing, or to grow crops. Unfortunately, when water is drained from peatlands, they lose their nutritional qualities, and become worse overtime. Farmers may then turn to burning and using fertilizers, which only provide temporary nutritional boosts, damage local water quality, and cause far reaching negative impacts.

Burning


Solutions

Protection & Rewetting

"If we increase the total area of protected or rewetted peatlands from 8.84 million hectares to 302.69–491.21 million hectares, we can avoid some 25.40–40.27 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions." - Drawdown: Peatland Protection and Rewetting

Offset Your Carbon Footprint

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council says this can be done by restoring damaged sites, and by buying peatland to help protect it. 

They point out that "Known peatlands only cover about 3% of the world’s land surface, but store at least twice as much carbon as all of Earth’s standing forests. In addition, at least one-third of the world’s organic soil carbon, which plays a vital role in mitigating climate change and stabilizing the carbon cycle, is in peatlands."

One option they suggest is to leave organizations like theirs in your will. To get started you can 

Paludiculture

Click the Paludiculture button for a list of recommended crops that can be grown on re-wetted peatland, as well as grants and other resources for farmers.

Ban Burning for Grazing & Hunting

Scottish Muirburn

"Muirburn is the ‘traditional’ practice of burning vegetation (usually to promote new growth) and is mainly associated with managing land for grouse shooting, deer management or for sheep farming. Over the years, muirburn has become subject to both statutory regulation and voluntary guidance. In the light of the current climate and nature emergencies, the impacts of muirburn on both biodiversity and carbon, and the systems for its regulation, have come under scrutiny. The nature and extent of benefits and impacts remain contested but have been extensively researched. Based on this research, RSPB Scotland has long called for change1." - How to prevent nature and carbon going up in smoke: Licensing Muirburn

Restore Peatlands

NatureScot Peatland ACTION – Restoring Scotland’s Peatlands

14:09 minute video. "A film which explains why we need to restore peatlands and the help and support available to landowners. We hear from three land management estates, their agents and contractors about their experience of Peatland ACTION, and the benefits they’ve seen on the land."

Types of Peatland

There are different types of bogs or peatland. This section exists to help people understand the names and differences of these fascinating ecosystems.

Blanket Bogs

"Blanket bogs are the most celebrated of Ireland’s peatlands. The habitat is very well developed in the country. We have two types of blanket bogs – Atlantic Blanket Bog and Mountain Blanket Bog."

Atlantic Blanket Bog

"Atlantic blanket bogs cover the landscape of the west coast from sea level to an altitude of 200m. Here, rainfall is 1,200mm per year and the acid peat substrate ranges from 2 to 7m deep. Atlantic blanket bog vegetation has a characteristic grassy appearance due to the occurrence of purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea) and black bog rush (Schoenus nigricans). Patterned surfaces of pools, flat and sloped areas, flushes and swallow holes are important features of blanket bogs."  - Irish Peatland Conservation Council 

Mountain Blanket Bog

"Mountain blanket bogs occur on relatively flat terrain in the mountain ranges above 200m altitude. Here rainfall is high and evaporation is low. Mountain blanket bogs are rain fed and their peat is acidic. The vegetation is characterised by the presence of ericoid shrubs and in particular ling heather (Calluna vulgaris), crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) and bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus). Natural drains, lakes and flushes are features of mountain blanket bogs." - Irish Peatland Conservation Council

Guides & Resources

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