from Sunday Herald, 28 February 2010
They’re muddy, vast and flat, but they could have a crucial role to play in preventing climate chaos.
The black peat bogs that blanket two million hectares of Scotland are the key to cutting the pollution that is warming the globe, according to expert new research.
A major programme to restore the nation’s peatlands could save a massive 2.4 million tonnes of carbon a year - more than all the planned reductions in emissions from the transport sector. This would enable the Scottish government to meet its ambitious targets to cut pollution.
Peat bogs store a huge amount of carbon. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which brings together governments, environmental groups and scientists, Scotland’s bogs contain over three billion tonnes of carbon.
The problem is that landowners in the past have cut long drainage ditches through the peat for forestry plantations and agriculture. As the peat dries out, the carbon that has been locked up for thousands of years leaks into the atmosphere.
But if the ditches are blocked, and the peat becomes wet again, the carbon remains fixed. A new report by IUCN estimates that spending between £60 million and £120 million over the next six years restoring peat bogs would yield annual carbon saving of 2.4 million tonnes.
“Bringing peatlands back to life offers a carbon saving bonanza as well as providing habitat for some of our most threatened wildlife,” said Clifton Bain, the director of the IUCN UK peatland programme.
“The sooner we start repairing our peatlands, the easier and less expensive it will be.” Peat bogs were an undervalued and ill-treated “Cinderella habitat”, he argued, that could have an important role to play in tackling climate change.
Last week, the Scottish government was warned by the UK Committee on Climate Change that, without a global deal to cut climate pollution, it would be difficult to meet its target to cut emissions 42% by 2020.
But environmentalists are arguing that investing in peatland restoration could provide the solution. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is due to meet the environment minister, Roseanna Cunningham, to press for action.
“We now know that damaged peatlands emit significant quantities of greenhouse gases,” said the director of RSPB Scotland, Stuart Housden. “By restoring bogs and preventing further losses, both wildlife and the climate will benefit, helping to meet our 42% emissions reduction target in a cost effective manner.”
He pointed out that RSPB Scotland had pioneered techniques for peatland restoration in the flow country of Caithness and Sutherland. “So far, we have restored over 2000 hectares, but more and larger areas need treatment and funding to 'lock up' the carbon and recreate amazing wildlife habitats.”
Public spending to repair peat bogs was also backed by the SNP MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Rob Gibson. “Scotland has 80% of the UK's deep peat resource,” he said.
“The UK as well as Scottish governments should seriously consider investments in peatland, especially in huge areas of the Highlands and Islands which I represent. Jobs can be created and climate change impacts reduced.”
The Scottish government stressed that it recognised the need to protect and restore peatlands because of the wide range of environmental services they deliver. But it said there was “considerable uncertainty” over the estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from bogs.
Ministers were funding several studies to try and reduce the uncertainties, said a government spokeswoman. “We would welcome a discussion with IUCN to flesh out the basis for the calculation of delivering emission reductions of at least 2.4 million tonnes of carbon a year.”
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