5 ways we can all show love for peat bogs

It’s not enough to love our peatlands, we have to act – now

1. Stop commercial forestry and development on peatland 

   Climate breakdown is our future so let’s stop destroying the things that help us. We can’t dig up peatland that’s formed over thousands of years and recreate it on a whim elsewhere. Nature is the master builder and likes to take its time. We can give support by protecting peatlands as much as possible.

2. Stop commercial peat extraction and exploitation

   As above. We know the damage that peat extraction does. It’s time to stop exploiting for the sake of life on this planet.

3. Stop burning on peatlands

   We need biodiversity. We need healthy peatlands. We don’t need millions of acres of manufactured grouse moor that favours a heather monoculture at the expense of di-versity.

4. Restore as much peatland as possible as quickly as possible 

   The damage done to our peatlands over centuries is not irrevocable. We can remove harmful forestry, block drains and smooth out furrows to get our peaty ecosystems functioning again. That’s why we’re fundraising to do more (see our Peatlands Appeal). The  more we restore the more carbon we store. 

5. Provide a steady funding stream for restoration work

   Introducing a natural carbon emissions land tax could help. Read about our proposal to do just that, so that there are financial incentives for landowners to become carbon savers instead of carbon emitters. It might not be perfect but we need some radical carrot and stick thinking to fine-tune a better future.