Ministers urged to harness the power of peat bogs to help save the planet
Scotland’s peat bogs have the potential to make a massive contribution in the battle to cut carbon dioxide emissions, campaigners say.
The country is home to two-thirds of the all the UK’S peatland, and the amount of carbon they store is equivalent to 140 years’ worth of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions. Its peat bogs are capable of storing more carbon than all the forests in the UK and France combined.
The Scottish Government has pledged a £250 million investment in peatland restoration over the next 10 years.
Restoration of peatland is a key part of a major project by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority to address climate change and nature loss.
Meanwhile in Inverclyde, campaigners are calling for the restoration of Duchal Moor, a giant bog the size of more than 10,000 football pitches. Liz Parsons of environmental group Yearn Stane said: “Blanket bogs like Duchal Moor have been taken for granted. We now realise this is a hugely significant habitat for biodiversity, carbon capture and flood prevention.”
Peatlands cover just 3% of the world’s surface but store
around a third of the land’s carbon, twice as much as all the world’s forests combined.
Scotland’s largest peatland is the vast Flow Country area which stretches across Caithness and Sutherland. It has been compared to the Amazon because of its ecological importance to Earth.
The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority sees restoration of peatland as a key way to address climate change and nature loss.
A six-week public consultation on the draft Strathard Framework aimed at making the area more climate resilient closes tomorrow.
The framework includes plans for peatland restoration, the creation of a wetland in Aberfoyle and natural flood mitigation projects.
Stuart Mearns, director of place at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, said: “This framework is ambitious and clear on the challenges and opportunities across the area and it will be an important tool in creating a healthier and more climate-responsive Strathard that is a great place to live, work and visit.”
MP Ronnie Cowan is campaigning for some of the £250m to be directed towards Duchal.
He said: “Land that historically was drained has become brittle but, restored to peatland, this area will provide valuable carbon storage and have many benefits to people and nature.”
In a letter to Cowan this month, Mairi Mcallan, minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, stated: “The Scottish Government has committed to make large-scale and rapid changes to the way we use and manage our land, including commitments to increase woodland creation to 18,000 hectares per year by 2024/25 and to restore 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2030.”