Resilient communities
2030 target: Enable community-based conservation and restoration of 10 million hectares of peatland. PROCESS: We are slightly behind schedule. We are developing community-based solutions, unlocking private finance for peatland restoration at landscape scale. By pioneering novel solutions and sharing our knowledge and experiences we catalyse further climate action.
We secured significant investment for large- scale peatland restoration projects in Peru (2,600 hectares) and Mongolia (25,000 hectares) which will deliver impact for indigenous communities and nomadic herders over the next five years with significant upscaling opportunities. Through a community-based approach, we improve local socio-economic conditions and long-term livelihoods such as herding yak, and increase protection of endangered flora and fauna such as the beautiful and rare endemic and endangered Junin Grebe (with fewer than 360 individuals remaining), Junin Rail and the Lake Junin Frog, once believed to be extinct. In Europe, we worked with Rewilding Europe to test the possibilities of commercially funded (carbon funding) peatland restoration delivered in partnership
with communities in Ireland, Scotland, Lithuania and Poland. We released a report with Landscape Finance Lab on how to mobilise investor-driven funding for community-based peatland restoration. Bringing government and landowners on board is a complex process, but we’ve been making progress, developing partnerships and knowledge, and at least one large-scale project has been agreed in Ireland. Long-term, large-scale impact depends on strong partnerships and co-creation approaches, and we’re developing a framework to guide collaborative processes in peatland restoration. We have also been using knowledge on where and how to restore wetlands and peatlands in Europe to influence the EU Nature Restoration and Soil Health laws improving the state of millions of hectares of peatlands across Europe over the next decade.
Reduced climate risks
2030 target: Reduce the impact of peat-based industries in 10 million hectares of peatlands, with a focus on palm oil, pulp and timber. PROCESS: We are on track. Our work on palm oil alone covers 4.5 million hectares of production landscapes, a large proportion of which are peatlands.
The relationship between peatland and land use has been on the agenda this year, after we used the platform of UNFCCC COP28 to highlight the impacts of growing commodity crops on drained peatlands – including the release of stored carbon and loss of habitat. We’ve been working with members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to limit impacts on peatlands in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as making sure this is on the agenda of importing companies and countries – including through the EU Deforestation Law. As a board
member of Responsibly Produced Peat (RPP), we engaged with European governments to drastically reduce peat use in domestic horticulture, while in East Africa, we worked with communities to raise awareness of the negative consequences of peat extraction by tree nursery operators and small- scale coffee farmers.
Wetlands International, with the support of Greenchoice and other partners, is improving peatland management in Lake Junín, Peru. Through a community-based approach, the project aims to improve local socio-economic conditions and long- term livelihoods, and increase protection of endemic flora and fauna.
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2023
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