Peatland Programme

Updates

Peatland and Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Opportunities in Scotland - Briefing from Programme Director Clifton Bain outlining the opportunities that exist within the UK to reduce the carbon and greenhouse gas emissions from our Peatlands. (4 Mar 2010)

Call for reviews for IUCN UK Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands - Competition for six brief technical reviews to feed into the IUCN UK Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands (2 Feb 2010)

Report of UK Peatlands Workshop - Read the IUCN UK Peatlands Workshop Report (2 Feb 2010)

Copenhagen and Peatland - News from Copenhagen (18 Dec 2009)

Business Strategy - Find out more: Read the Business Strategy (4 Dec 2009)

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Articles

Press Release 8th Dec 2009 - Peatlands championed at Copenhagen summit

Press Release 4th Nov 2009 - UK ranked amongst worst peatland carbon emitters

Press Release 11 June 2009 - United Nations offers greater support for peatlands

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Reference

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Contact the Programme

Clifton Bain

Programme Director

Cramond House

3 Kirk Cramond

Edinburgh

EH4 6HZ

Contact

IUCN UK National Committee
c/o RZSS
Edinburgh

EH12 6TS

United Kingdom

Tel: +44(0)131 314 0316

Fax: +44(0)131 3140376
IUCN@rzss.org.uk

Supported By

Supported by
The Peter De Haan

Charitable Trust

Welcome to The IUCN UK Peatland Programme

Promoting the multiple benefits of Peatlands through:
• Partnerships
• Strong science
• Sound policy
• Effective practice

Peatland is a general term covering a range of peat soils and associated habitats that occupy approximately 3% of the land surface of the Earth. Peatlands provide valuable services of importance to human well-being, including biodiversity and climate change mitigation. They also provide a range of water management and quality benefits and have heritage value as wildlife habitats and preserves of archaeological and other historic remains. With most of our peatland resource in a less than favourable condition, we are losing valuable services and experiencing rising costs from the breakdown of peatland ecosystems.

Investing now, to halt the deterioration of peatlands will avoid huge future expense due to:
• the damaging consequences for our water and atmosphere from collapsed peatland ecosystems
• having to find alternatives to the many beneficial services that healthy peatlands provided

Peatlands cover only 3% of the global land area yet hold 30% of all land based carbon - twice the carbon stock of the world's forest biomass. Damage to peatlands, from drainage, grazing, burning and extraction is releasing the peatland carbon store as carbon dioxide at an enormous rate - equivalent to 10% of all global fossil fuel emissions.

Restoring and rewetting the UK's peatlands can turn these systems from emitting carbon to sequestering carbon, extremely cost effectively. The more degraded the peatlands become the greater the costs to society in terms of carbon emissions water quality and other services such as biodiversity, and the higher the price of restoration becomes.

The Peatland Programme has been set up to advocate the inclusion of peatlands in the global Climate Change talks in Copenhagen and in future European budget and rural development discussions, to create the right funding framework for restoration

“By drawing together expertise, building partnerships and raising awareness of the many benefits of healthy, functioning peatlands, the Peatlands Programme can make a real difference in changing the way that we treat this valuable ecosystem. We want to actively engage with Governments in the UK and internationally in policy decision-making to ensure peatland conservation is afforded the priority it deserves and in turn secures long term benefits to society.”

Clifton Bain, Director, Peatland Programme

Find out more about the peatland project.