Wales targets 1,800 hectares of peatland restoration a year to store carbon and curb floods

On the moorlands of Wales, Dr Peter Jones, a scientist nicknamed “The Bogfather,” has spent 30 years on peatland restoration, reviving bogs and fens that rank among the most concentrated carbon stores in the country.

Peatlands hold 30% of Wales’ land-based carbon while covering only 4% of its surface, according to the National Peatland Action Programme. Yet about 90% are degraded, which means they now leak greenhouse gases instead of storing them.

That matters well beyond conservation. Restoring peat offers a nature-based route to cut emissions, slow flooding and create natural firebreaks, and it intersects directly with agriculture, since draining bogs for farming drove much of the damage in the first place.

Why peatland restoration matters for carbon and water

Healthy peatland slows the flow of water, helping prevent flooding, and can act as a firebreak during wildfires, both of which are expected to become more frequent as the climate warms. The engine of a functioning bog is sphagnum moss, which can hold 20 times its own weight in water and steadily builds new peat. Where peat is damaged it becomes far more prone to erosion, leaving bare “peat cliffs” scoured down toward bedrock.

How draining for agriculture degraded Welsh bogs

The scale of degradation is rooted in land use. Because peatland was long seen as having little value, trees were planted on it and farmers were encouraged to drain it for agriculture, while rural communities cut peat as fuel. The farming link cuts both ways today: rewetting drained land is central to restoration, and the wider push to protect peat is also reshaping horticulture, where growers are shifting toward peat-free growing media to reduce the extraction that damages these habitats.

A 1,800-hectare-a-year restoration target

There are more than 100 ways to restore peatland, from blocking drains and ditches to re-establishing bog vegetation. The process is slow: healthy peat accumulates only about 1 millimeter a year, so 1 meter (3.3 feet) can take up to 1,000 years to form. Wales has committed to restoring around 1,800 hectares a year by the end of 2030-31, part of a wider effort that earned Jones, a Cardiff University plant scientist, an MBE in 2024 for services to Welsh peatlands.

The window to protect these carbon stores is narrowing. Jones warned that the task will get harder as the climate changes because “there’ll be less rainfall in the summer,” drying out the very ground that restoration depends on. Research is also testing dual uses for recovered land, including solar arrays on rewetted peatlands that could pair clean power with biodiversity gains.

Source: BBC