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Peatland News

Title: Global Peatlands Initiative tackles climate change
Date: 21-Nov-2016
Category: Climate Change
Source/Author: DigitalJournal.com/Tim Sandle
Description: Tackling peatlands is regarded by many environmentalists as a key part of any strategy to address climate change. The main impact comes from the draining of peatlands to make way for agriculture.

Tackling peatlands is regarded by many environmentalists as a key part of any strategy to address climate change. The main impact comes from the draining of peatlands to make way for agriculture.

Peatlands are a major source of peat. Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. Upon drying, peat can be used as fuel. In addition to major peatlands, other wetland types also deposit peat, including fens, pocosins, and peat swamp forests. While peatlands only cover 3 percent of the land surface; they contain twice as much carbon as the world’s forests. Risks arise when peatlands are drained.

 Towards the end of November, a new global initiative was launched to minimize the carbon impact of peatlands. This was made at the climate change conference COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Called the “Global Peatlands Initiative”, the strategy aims to protect peatlands on the basis they are a space-effective means of storing carbon on the planet. Peat is found in over half of the world’s wetlands.

When peatlands are drained, this activity releases carbon in the form of greenhouse gasses up into the atmosphere. Gas can also be released from poorly maintained peatlands and due to agriculture related erosion and fires. To address each of these areas requires an integrated strategy and one that will work across many countries (especially the top 25 countries called out as having weak peatland management processes or who are contributing to the greatest release of carbon.)

Founding partners, who drew up the initiative, included the United Nations Environment Program, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Wetlands International and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The developed strategy includes:
"Providing an updated overall assessment of the status of peatlands and their
importance in the global carbon cycle and for national economies.
Building the knowledge base and developing options to reduce
degradation  and improve the sustainability of peatland management."


Discussing the new initiative, Martha Rojas-Urrego, who is the Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention stated in a communication sent to Digital Journal: “Only a few countries are currently including peatlands’ management in their climate change national plans so more peatlands action is needed…Conservation of peatlands also supports adaptation and resilience as they regulate water and protects us from disasters.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/global-peatlands-initiative-tackles-climate-change/article/480108#ixzz4QouPi1jR



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