Peatland restoration is an essential part of the UK’s pathway to decarbonisation. Nature is the only mechanism of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in this country at present, mainly through woodland ecosystems and also healthy peatlands. When in good condition, in a waterlogged or re-wetted state, peatlands are a wildlife hotspot; home to rare plants like sundews and cotton grass, butterflies like the marsh fritillary, and beautiful birds like the golden plover.

Peatlands hold enormous amounts of carbon in their soils; around 3.2 billion tonnes across the UK. But 80% are in poor condition, and are releasing rather than capturing carbon. Around 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gases (4% of total UK emissions) is being emitted each year. If the UK is going to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions, this needs to stop, and the carbon stored within peatlands to be protected from further losses.

Getting peatland emissions down is part of the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy, but to date both the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Climate Change Committee (CCC) have been warning that the level of restoration is far too low. The Climate Change Committee in its last progress report recommended to UK Government that restoration rates need to be around 67,000 hectares per year across England, Wales and Scotland by 2025. The UK Government has set itself a much lower target of 32,000 hectares per year. By the Climate Change Committee’s latest count, only 12,700 hectares came under restoration in 2022/23; way below both interim targets.