Peatland Restoration and Rewetting

What are peatlands?

Peatland, also known as peatbogs or bogs, are essential wetland ecosystems. About 3% of all land on earth is covered by peatlands, that is 4.23 million km2, or 1.6 million m2. Peatlands can be found in every type of climate. Yes, even in the arctic. Most peatlands are found in the northern hemisphere in locations with high precipitation and low temperature. However, they can also be found in rainforests, mountain regions, and in mangrove forests. The key to peatlands is high precipitation and high biomass. Their specific location determines their composition. Most peatlands are composed of a mixture of some or all of the following: sphagnum moss, sedges, shrubs, graminoids, and woody vegetation. Due to consistent high precipitation levels, the amount of plant matter growth significantly exceeds the amount of decomposition.

How and why are peatlands destroyed?

The number one threat to peatlands is agriculture. It is estimated that 15% of all peatlands have already been destroyed, and over half of that was due to agriculture. Most are deforested, drained, and harvested. Peatlands are often in forested areas, where biomass is abundant. So, they are cleared for their lumber, then they are drain of their water, harvested for their sphagnum moss. Finally, the land is converted into farm fields. A common crop that takes the place of a degraded peatland is palm oil. The process of draining eventually leads to soil compaction and subsidence. This is a huge problem, once all the pore space between soil is eliminated, it is exceedingly more difficult to manage the local water table.

Why are peatlands important and why should we restore them?

Peatlands are rich in nutrients and host a variety of ecosystems, making them vital to an array of flora and fauna. More importantly, they are one of the most effective carbon sinks. Even though peatlands only cover 3% of land, they trap 30% of all the soil carbon on earth, roughly 500 gigatons. That is double how much carbon is being trapped by all the forest put together. Every year 20 km3 of peatlands are being degraded, leading to 3 gigatons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

How to restore and rewet peatlands

Project Draw Down has created two scenarios for projected peatland restoration between 2020–2050. Scenario one protects 266.7 million hectares of peatlands and restores 35.16 million hectares of already degraded peatlands. Scenario two protects 448.6 million hectares of peatlands and restores 47.04 million hectares of already degraded peatlands. Dried peatlands are extremely susceptible to wildfires, so the first step to restoring them is to rewet them. The most effective way to do this is to block canals and allow the water to build up naturally. Once you restore the water table and rewet the surface, you create a fertile substrate ideal for reforestation. When it comes to reforesting, it is key to do proper research of the area in order to select the right species, such as sphagnum moss. Indonesia is in the process of a promising peatlands restoration program, and that will cost roughly billion US dollars. However, much more research would need to be done in order to determine the average cost to restore and rewet vital peatlands.

References

Belarus shares success in peatland restoration | UNCCD. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2021, from https://www.unccd.int/news-events/belarus-shares-success-peatland-restoration

Byg, A., Martin-Ortega, J., Glenk, K., & Novo, P. (2017). Conservation in the face of ambivalent public perceptions — The case of peatlands as ‘the good, the bad and the ugly.’ Biological Conservation, 206, 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.12.022

Indonesia president bans further destruction of peatlands. (2016, December 8). Climate Home News. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/12/08/indonesia-president-bans-further-destruction-of-peatlands/

Peatland Protection and Rewetting. (2020, February 12). Project Drawdown. https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/peatland-protection-and-rewetting/technical-summary

Power to the peat: 3 ways to restore peatlands. (2019, May 5). Landscape News. https://news.globallandscapesforum.org/34768/power-to-the-peat-3-ways-to-restore-peatlands/

Smoke on Water | GRID-Arendal. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2021, from https://www.grida.no/resources/12547

What are peatlands? (n.d.). International Peatland Society. Retrieved May 14, 2021, from https://peatlands.org/peatlands/what-are-peatlands/