Huge carbon emission from wildfire, study says
● Charity calls for funding to restore and protect ‘vital’ peatlands
A single wildfire on peatland could have released carbon equivalent to six days’ worth of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, according to research.
Analysis for conservation charity WWF by environmental consultancy Ricardo assessed the impact of a wildfire on the scale of the one that burnt for almost six days on part of the Flow Country in May.
The Flow Country is estimated to store 400 million tonnes of carbon and is under consideration for World Heritage
Site status for its globally rare type of blanket peatland.
The study used an approach based on International Panel on Climate Change methods and estimated that 174,000 tonnes of carbon was lost from the peatland into the atmosphere during the fire. This is the equivalent of 6.2 days of daily average greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland.
WWF Scotland is now calling for urgent action to protect and restore peatlands, described as “vital carbon stores”, including increased, multi-year funding from the Scottish Government of at least £20 million a year.
Gina Hanrahan, head of policy for WWF Scotland, said: “We’re facing twin climate and nature crises. People and nature in the UK are already feeling the impacts of climate change, and we have little time
left to act if we are to avoid its worst effects.
“This analysis puts into stark figures the importance of our peatlands and the huge cost to climate and nature when something goes wrong.”
She added: “How we manage and care for our peatlands influences their effect on climate change, as well as fire risk and how the habitat responds, so protecting and restoring peatlands needs to be a vital part of our response to both the climate and nature crises.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Restoring peatland has an important part to play in delivering our climate change ambitions.
“The impact of peatland degradation on climate change cannot be overstated, particularly in Scotland, where around 25 per cent of the country is covered in peat soil.
“If all of the carbon dioxode from that peatland were released, then it would be the equivalent of more than 120 years of our emissions being released at once.”
“This analysis puts into stark figures the importance of our peatlands and the huge cost to climate and nature when something goes wrong.”
GINA HANRAHAN
Head of policy at WWF Scotland