Output details

Peatbogs and carbon: a critical synthesis to inform policy development in oceanic peat bog conservation and restoration in the context of climate change.

This critical research review has underpinned key policy developments concerning peatland management in the UK and in the wider global community. The review was commissioned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Scotland, with funding from Scottish Natural Heritage, Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and the Forestry Commission. It was commissioned to bring clarity to policy discussions about the role of peat bog carbon flux and the potential relationship with climate change. Existing scientific literature appeared contradictory and confusing, leaving policy-makers unsure about how to proceed in terms of peat bogs and carbon. The review re-assessed and evaluated many research sites, sometimes in the field, and also re-analysed much published literature in the light of these re-assessments. The review revealed that confusion and contradiction in the scientific literature has arisen because researchers have not described their research sites appropriately. The review assembled a wide range of figures concerning peat bogs and carbon flux, and subsequently underpinned establishment and establishment of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) UK Peatland Programme in 2009. It was used as the core briefing document for the IUCN’s UK Peatland Programmes Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands and underpins subsequent Ministerial announcements concerning peatland restoration (see RO 2). The review has also informed the UK Committee on Climate Change in terms of peatland ecosystem responses. It also formed the basis of a keynote presentation made by Mr Lindsay on behalf of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme to a UK-Government, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) sponsored 'Side Event' at COP10 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan; following which peatlands were confirmed as key ecosystems within the CBD Aichi Targets and Strategic Plan 2011-2020. The review also assisted the decision-making process to include peatlands as part of the carbon-accounting process for the Kyoto Protocol.