The importance of peatlands
Peatlands cover only 3 percent of the earth’s land area, but they play a critical role in the carbon cycle and climate regulation both globally and in the 178 countries where they are present.
Peatlands store approximately 20 percent of global soil carbon stock, equivalent to twice the amount of carbon present in the entire world’s forest biomass.
Peatlands provide vital ecosystem services. They regulate and purify water, and they reduce the risks of natural disasters such as fires, floods and droughts. At the same time, they are sources of food, non-timber products and livelihoods, and provide a refuge for biodiversity and endangered species.
Relevant SDGs
Threats to peatlands
Peatlands are increasingly threatened by human activity both from the digging of canals and ditches that drain peatlands, and from degradation due to agriculture, forestry and plantations, mining, infrastructure, logging, grazing, peat extraction and fires. It is estimated that 11-15 percent of the world’s peatlands are currently drained and degraded.
When peatlands dry out or when peatlands vegetation is altered, they become major greenhouse gas emitters as the peat carbon rapidly decomposes or is dissolved in drainage canals. The relatively small surface area of drained and degraded peatland worldwide is responsible for almost 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than the emissions from the international aviation and shipping sectors combined.
At the same time, peatland degradation means a reduction in all the ecosystem services peatlands provide, increasing the threat of biodiversity loss and natural disasters, and damaging water quality and livelihoods.
Peatland rewetting is the process of raising the water level in drained peatlands to restore them to their natural state, which helps stop carbon loss and can even promote new carbon storage. Rewetting and sustainable management of peatlands, including fire prevention and measures to prevent further peat degradation, is the most cost-effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and maintaining the ecosystem services that peatlands provide.