Welsh peatlands are on the road to recovery thanks to a Welsh
Government-funded action programme smashing its targets ahead of
time.
Set up by the Welsh Government in 2020, the National Peatlands Action
Programme is delivered by Natural Resources Wales.
The five year programme had ambitious targets of restoring 3,000
hectares of peatland – the equivalent of more than 3,000 rugby
pitches.
Today, Deputy First Minister with responsibility for Climate
Change, confirmed targets had been met 12 months
early.
These works have safeguarded more than 1.6m tonnes of stored
carbon, resulting in an estimated emissions reduction of 8,000
tonnes of carbon every year. This is the equivalent to the
emissions of 5,700 cars!
The Deputy First Minister said: “I am delighted to confirm that
our ambitious peatland restoration targets for April 2025 have
been met ahead of time. This is a huge step forward for climate
and nature in Wales.
“Peatlands are so important. They store a quarter of all soil
carbon in just four per cent of our land area, reduce the risk of
wildfire and are vital for rare plant species like
Sphagnum mosses, which play a critical role in
flood and drought resilience and carbon sequestration.
“Wales is facing a climate and nature emergency and this work
goes a long way to ensure these precious habitats can survive and
adapt in a changing climate.
“Congratulations to everyone involved in this work, and I'm
looking forward to following the fifth restoration season to see
just how much further we can go.”
Mannon Lewis, NRW's Strategic Projects Manager who heads the
National Peatland Action Programme, said: “Peatlands are our most
valuable land resource for carbon storage, and their restoration
is an effective nature-based solution to address the Nature and
Climate emergencies.
“The restoration of peatland biodiversity is a critical aspect of
nature recovery and secures effective long storage of carbon and
the regulation of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere, as well as
other ecosystem benefits.
“In addition to the hectares delivered, the National Programme
has provided the strategic leadership needed by partners working
across Wales to plan for the acceleration of delivery into the
future.”
Some Peatlands in Wales are over 10,000 years old and contain the
historic environmental record for Wales.
They filter and supply drinking water into our reservoirs with
significant volumes of drinking water starting its journey in
upland peat bogs.
The action programme work has been complemented by other peatland
projects including those funded through EU LIFE, National Parks,
Heritage Lottery and land owners.
Collectively, these have delivered restoration activity across a
further 1,000 hectares since 2020.
You can learn more about the National Peatland Action Programme
here: Natural Resources Wales /
The National Peatland Action Programme
ENDS
Notes to editors
Just some of the Peat sites across Wales include:
Lake Vyrnwy; Tywi Forest; Migneint; Bannau Brycheiniog National
Park; Elan Valley Trust; Eryri National Park; Cors Caron,
Anglesey fens; Fens and Whixall Moss.
There are lots of sites and these can be found under the
‘activity' tab on the Welsh Peatland Data Portal
| Wales Environmental Information Portal (arcgis.com)
