PEATLANDS 2030 GLOBAL GOAL
Our goal is to scale up the conservation and restoration of peatlands as a contribution to biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development. For this, it is vital to ensure that all remaining undrained peatlands stay intact, while 50 million hectares of drained peatland are restored by 2050.
Peatlands
We secured two major research projects funded through the EU Horizon 2020 programme that will create long-term sustainable land management solutions and establish a prioritisation framework for governments and decision- makers. These research projects are designed to influence EU policies (Common Agricultural Policy and EU Restoration law and Carbon Farming) and provide a strong basis for upscaling of peatland restoration by farmers and rural communities in Europe. As a result of our advocacy efforts, the EU is now shifting its stance and accepting the significant role that improved peatland protection, increased paludiculture (wet peatland farming) and carbon farming can bring to the Green Deal implementation. Including these aspects in the Common Agriculture Policy is key for upscaling since it will drive the largest farm-subsidy stream in Europe and help ensure that peatlands are recognised in the new EU Carbon Farming initiative.
Reduced climate risks
In Russia (PeatRus project), we completed inventories for six regions totalling approximately 2.85 million ha of peatlands. We also monitored the greenhouse gas emissions to Verified Carbon Standard for 40,000 ha. Both initiatives have resulted in peatlands being included in Russia’s Climate Action plan (NDC) and are expected to trigger investments in reducing CO2 emission from peatlands. Covid-19 restrictions prevented the delivery of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Drainability Assessment training in Asia – the activity should restart in 2022. Once completed, the training has the potential to influence practices on 4.5M ha of plantations under the RSPO scheme. During COP26 and other events, we used the 2021 Ramsar guidelines for peatland rewetting and restoration to raise awareness of the need to restore 50 million ha of drained peatlands globally by 2050 to meet the 1.5° Celcius target. This 50x50 target provides the basis for action to counter peatland drainage associated with the production of commodities such as palm oil and pulp/fibres, and drainage infrastructure for engineering.
Peatlands Healthy wetlands
While we have made progress in engaging with countries and started setting up landscape-scale safeguarding and restoration projects, we have not yet reached the scale to deliver 20m ha by 2030. We expect to accelerate from 2024 onwards.
In November 2021, we successfully co-organised the inaugural Peatland Pavilion at UNFCCC COP26 where we launched our Peatland track record. We advocated for the inclusion of peatlands in National Climate Action plans towards governments, international organisations and financial institutions. We progressed discussions on principles to ensure socio-environmental integrity in unlocking carbon finance for wetlands. Our partners Global Peatland Initiative and Greifswald Mire Centre published the Global Peatland Map 2.0 (unep.org) which includes spatial data from Wetlands International projects in Europe and the Nile Basin, which has helped target countries with significant peatland resource for protection and management (Russia, Ireland, Scotland and Mongolia) and facilitated the inclusion of peatland in governments’ Climate Action plans. In Europe, we influenced the drafting of the EU Nature Restoration law which will set legally binding restoration targets which is anticipated to include wetlands outside of protected sites, when it is published later in 2022.
Peatlands
Resilient wetland communities
By 2030, we aim to enable community-based conservation and restoration of 10 million hectares of peatlands.
We developed successful pre-feasibility assessments for community-based peatland restoration in Peru (153,000 ha around Lake Junin) and Mongolia (30,000 ha across the country) involving improved grazing management to reduce emissions, leading to funding from Greenchoice for developing landscape propositions for restoration. For Peru’s Lake Junin, we started to build on the successful restoration of 172 ha of high-altitude peatlands (bofedales) that was completed in 2021. With Rewilding Europe, local partners, communities and farmers, we developed carbon landscape propositions for peatland restoration in the Oder Delta in Poland (1,300 ha out of 41,000 ha potential) as well as in the Norrbotten district in Sweden (19,000 ha of 200,000 ha potential), resulting in pre-investments enabling us to explore upscaling.
Significant projects with a built-in upscaling mechanism are underway and on track to deliver the outcome by 2030, coupled with a strong EU policy to drive action at scale in Europe.
By 2030, we will reduce the impact of peat-based industries in 10 million hectares of peatland, with a focus on palm oil, pulp, and timber.
By 2030, we aim to safeguard over 20 million hectares of high value peatlands, including bringing 5 major peatland landscapes back into good ecological condition.
Although progress is being made, the postponement due to Covid-19 of the RSPO Drainability Assessment training in Asia means we are behind schedule.
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
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