Protection of remaining peatlands

		Peatlands cover less than 3% of the land surface but store more carbon than the vegetation of all the world’s forests combined. They are also critical for maintenance of biodiversity and other functions. Peatlands are the largest terrestrial carbon store and play a key role in global climate regulation. However, the sustainable maintenance of remaining peatlands could yield benefits beyond those of CO2 sequestration. It could help to maintain biodiversity, preserve water retention capacity in catchments, enhance local economic development as well as contribute towards the sustainability of rural livelihoods. To reap these multiple benefits however, a balance needs to be found between the protection and utilisation of peatland areas. The protection of remaining peatlands is one of the most important and cost-effective management strategies for minimising CO2 emissions.

Peatland degradation is becoming one of the most important global sources of CO₂ emissions from the Land Use and Land Use Change (LULUCF) sector. Emissions from tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia alone (covering 0.2% of the world’s land area) are estimated to be approximately 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, or about 7% of global fossil fuel emissions (Hooijer et al. 2006). Given the high density of carbon in peatlands, their degradation leads to disproportionately high carbon emissions. Since emissions from peatlands are almost always as a result of human induced degradation, the protection of peatlands may be a very important management strategy. Peatland protection is also very cost effective compared to other ways of mitigating GHG emissions.

Intact peatlands, which have not been drained or disturbed, should be strictly protected for biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and carbon storage. Intact peatlands with natural vegetation cover and hydrology still have the potential to sequester carbon. Once they are degraded however, they may lose this function. In regions like Europe, up to 90% of peatlands have been cleared, drained or otherwise sufficiently degraded to disrupt the relationship between the peat, plants and water.

Fire prevention and control

Peatland fires are one of the largest global point sources of greenhouse gas emissions from the land use sector. Fires in peatland are one of the largest global point sources of greenhouse gas emissions (Turetsky et al. 2002). Predictions of increased drought incidence and severity in many peatland regions due to climate change are likely to lead to an increase in carbon losses due to fire. This may change many peatlands from being net sinks for atmospheric carbon into net sources (Hogg et al. 1992). Reducing the incidence of peatland fires could aid carbon sequestration and storage (Garnett et al. 2000), which in turn could contribute towards meeting emission reduction targets

under the Kyoto Protocol - particularly on peatlands that are used for agricultural purposes. Globally the largest peatland fires occur in Southeast Asia and Russia. The fires in Southeast Asia are linked with the large-scale development of agriculture and settlement schemes in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the large-scale development of oil palm and pulpwood plantations over the past 10 years. The estimated emissions from fires in Southeast Asia over the past 10 years are between 14-40 billion tones (Hooijer et al. 2006).

The high intensity of wildfires can destroy both the surface vegetation and litter as well as burning the peat layers. This can lead to a variety of environmental problems. Peat fires lead to the direct loss of peat and peatland vegetation, as well as massive CO₂ emissions. They may burn deeply into the peat layer in cases where the groundwater table is lowered due to drainage or severe drought. During the period 1997-98 peatland fires in Southeast Asia burnt more than 2 million ha (Taconi 2003). Peat fires have been recorded in Indonesia burning 5m below the surface, making them impossible to extinguish without bringing the water table back to the surface.

Investment in peatland fire prevention and control may be one of the most cost effective ways of reducing global GHG emissions, as fire in peatlands may release very large amounts of greenhouse gases (over 2000 tonnes of CO₂/ha for a severe fire in tropical peatlands). However, fires can be often prevented through better water management and enhanced vigilance and fire control measures. In Indonesia, fire prevention activities have involved the blocking of abandoned agricultural or forestry drainage channels, revegetation of degraded sites, fire awareness campaigns with local communities, and the provision of equipment and training for local volunteer fire prevention and control teams. No single measure will be effective in reducing the risk of fire in peatlands. However, wise preparation and the use of several mechanisms together can help protect peatlands from fires. In doing so, a reduction in fires can reduce the emission of GHGs from peatlands.

In some cases fire has been used as a management tool by local communities and land owners in the management of peat soils. In Wasur National Park near Merauke and Pulau Kimaam in SE Papua province, Indonesia, local communities have used fire to control vegetation growth for thousands of years. Burning the vegetation helps to stimulate good grazing conditions for the hunting of wildlife such as wallabies and deer in shallow peatlands (Silvius and Taufik, 1989).

Rehabilitation of degraded peatlands

Rehabilitation of degraded peatlands can maintain carbon storage and other values. In addition to totally protecting undisturbed or intact peatlands, it is also important to rehabilitate those peatlands that have to some extent been degraded (usually due to draining in order to make the land suitable for forestry and agriculture). These degraded peatlands may represent the majority of peatlands in a given country. It is therefore advantageous to rehabilitate them so that they can continue to support biodiversity and provide ecological services such as carbon storage and water supply. Rehabilitation strategies need to be developed in accordance with the specific situation at the various sites but may include the restoration of hydrology and natural vegetation or other management interventions.

Initial work has indicated that provided the peatland has not been too degraded it is possible to restore natural vegetation and stimulate further carbon sequestration. Restoration or rewetting of peatlands reduces fire risk, CO₂ emissions and may generate benefits for biodiversity and local communities. Peatland restoration through rewetting and revegetation has been shown to significantly reduce fire risk and encourage regrowth of natural vegetation. In Belarus, restoration of Yelnia peatland through the blocking of over 20 major drains has led to elimination of regular fires. Large scale peatland rewetting is now underway in Belarus.

Restoration of peatlands can generate important new sustainable livelihood opportunities, as well as generating biodiversity and climate change benefits. The restoration of peatlands can create new sustainable livelihood opportunities, as well as providing benefits for climate change and biodiversity.