Degraded peatlands could cancel out benefits from forests, warns charity as it calls for ban on burning for shooting
Degraded peatlands could cancel out the benefits from Britain's forests, a countryside charity has said as it calls for a ban on burning them for shooting.
Currently, some grouse moor managers burn the peatlands each year in order to provide a habitat for the birds, which are shot for sport.
They have also been drained for agriculture over the decades, meaning that they release carbon each year instead of storing it.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has criticised this practice, arguing that all peat bogs need to be "rewetted" by 2030 to provide an important carbon store and habitat for rare native species.
Graeme Willis, the charity's Agricultural Lead, told The Telegraph: “We’ve signed up to a joint letter to the secretary of state which calls for a ban on burning of bogs. That is our position. The practice of burning them is the issue, not the sport. If they are wetter landscapes you might end up with more interesting sport, you might attract different game birds. There are different ways to manage the landscapes, burning is not sustainable over the long run and should be brought to an end fairly quickly.”
18.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide, are emitted from peatlands every year in the UK. Based on current government tree planting ambitions - 30,000 hectares per year by 2025 - an estimated 18.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions would be captured through new and existing forests annually, but not before 2050 to 2055.
It is estimated that there are over three billion tonnes of carbon stored in the peatlands in the UK – equivalent to all carbon stored in the forests of the UK, Germany and France put together. However, only 22 per cent of the UK's peatlands are estimated to be in a near-natural condition.
A Defra spokesperson said: "This Government remains dedicated to being a world leader in tackling climate change. Healthy peatlands have an important role to play in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and helping us reach our net zero target, which is why we have committed £640m through the Nature for Climate Fund to restore 35,000 hectares of England's peatland by 2025.
"We will also phase out the use of peat in horticulture in England by 2030, and have been clear that we will consider further measures to end the use of peat once and for all."
