Wetlands are under threat all around the world but there’s one particular type of wetland that provides a disproportionate ecosystem service in the form of carbon storage that is in dire need of increased protection. We’re talking peatlands, and new research is suggesting it’s way past time we got serious about looking after them.
Thanks to a concerted effort by conservationists, researchers, NGOs and governments, there has been a growing awareness about the importance and vulnerability of wetlands around the world. Whereas once they were widely seen as ‘swamps’ and only good for draining and development, these days they are acknowledged as valuable ecosystems providing a range of critical services to people. While they are still under threat, this effort to raise their profile has led to a significant increase in formal protections being afforded them. So, for example, around the world 42% of mangroves are now under some level of protection with 50% of saltmarshes under protection.
Unfortunately, a new study just released has revealed that peatlands, a form of wetland that many people have never heard of, are dangerously under-protected, putting the global climate at risk. Why? Because these terrestrial wetlands store around 600 billion tons of carbon yet only 17% of peatlands fall within a protected area. What’s more, nearly one-quarter of the world’s peatlands are under heavy pressure from human encroachment, with farming the largest threat globally.
Peatlands cover only 3% of the Earth’s surface yet they store more carbon than all the world’s forest biomass combined! Tropical forests are also under growing threat but even 38% of this habitat is protected. With only 17% of peatlands within protected areas, they are the standout ecosystem in need of help.
Degradation and leakage
Peatlands accumulate partially decomposed organic matter, preventing the release of billions of tons of carbon-dioxide to the atmosphere. But peatlands release that CO2 when they are drained or disturbed, and they are under growing pressure from multiple threats.
Peatlands are subject to widespread drainage and degradation due to commercial agriculture, forestry, mining, roads and other infrastructure developments. The peat itself is extracted for fuel and horticulture. Globally, peatlands are also negatively impacted by climate change with increased decomposition and carbon loss due to warmer temperatures and drier climate conditions, permafrost thaw, and fire.
Recent estimates suggest that human-caused degradation is causing peatlands to emit globally 1.3–1.9 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) each year. That’s 2%–4% of all global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from human-caused and natural peat fires likely contribute a further 0.2–1.5 Gt CO2e annually.
Once emitted to the atmosphere, the carbon lost from peatlands cannot be restored on timescales that matter for preventing dangerous climate change, although peatland restoration can prevent further losses of carbon to the atmosphere.
Countries with the most peatlands include Canada, Russia, Indonesia, US, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Peru, Finland and Republic of the Congo. These 10 countries contain 80% of global peatlands (with the first five contain 70% of global peatlands).
A global assessment
The new study, Mismatch Between Global Importance of Peatlands and the Extent of their Protection* offers the first global assessment of the conservation status of the world’s peatlands.
“This study is a real benchmark of where we are in terms of the conservation and management of peatlands globally,” says Kemen Austin, the lead author on the study and Director of Science at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Our research reveals that these vital ecosystems don’t have anywhere near the level of protection they need.”
The study reveals that nearly one-quarter of peatlands are under heavy pressure from human encroachment. Some 15% of peatlands have been drained for agriculture, while an additional 5-10% are degraded in some way, including through the removal of their native vegetation. This rate is even higher in the tropics, where estimates suggest over 40% of peatlands have been degraded.
The study also shows that almost half of temperate and tropical peatlands that fall within protected areas are still subject to medium to high pressure from human encroachment. The authors conclude that “the conservation and sustainable management of nearly all remaining undegraded peatlands, and the recovery of nearly all degraded peatlands, is essential to limiting global warming to 1.5°C.”
Though many local communities have long known peatlands — also called bogs fens, swamps, mires, and muskeg — to be an important source of freshwater and home to diverse plant and animal species, peatlands may have gone unprotected because they are remote, difficult to access, not always easily converted to farming, mining, or other industries, and have been thought of as unproductive wastelands. In terms of water, peatlands contain 10% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater.
First Nations and peatlands
One interesting finding of the study is that at least one-quarter (27%) of global peatlands fall on Indigenous (First Nations) Peoples’ lands, where they have been safeguarded by these communities. Globally, the study reports that at least 1.1 million square kilometres of peatlands lie within Indigenous Peoples’ lands and that more than 85% of peatlands within Indigenous Peoples’ lands do not fall within other types of protected areas.
According to the authors, strengthening the land rights of Indigenous Peoples can confer significant benefits for the peatlands — as well as other ecosystems — they manage.
“Our study reveals a really powerful fact — that Indigenous Peoples are already important caretakers of peatlands,” says study co-author Paul Elsen (Paul is the Director of Conservation Planning at the Wildlife Conservation Society). “This is significant because it means that we can improve peatland conservation by strengthening Indigenous People’s land rights, which is a trend that we’re already seeing in a lot of countries. So we have to keep up those efforts.”
Peatland conservation and climate consensus
The study authors also believe that international efforts on climate change offer additional pathways to protecting our precious peatlands, though so far there has been little action on this front.
“The multilateral climate change negotiations hosted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change offer an important opportunity to elevate peatland conservation actions as a climate priority,” says Austin. “But based on the nationally determined contributions countries have submitted to date, the continued disturbance and damage to global peatlands is getting very little attention as a significant and avoidable source of GHG emissions.”
With some exceptions — such as Indonesia and the UK, — most countries do not have comprehensive peatland strategies to support their national climate plans. And, while some countries emphasize the importance of peatlands in their climate plans, they can still face challenges translating these peatland goals into coordinated policies and conservation actions.
“Peatlands offer a huge opportunity for helping to solve the climate crisis,” says Austin. “If we act now to conserve peatlands, then we can reap some enormous benefits — at a relatively low cost.”
*For more details on this global study see:
Kemen G A, PR Elsen, EN Honorio Coronado, A DeGemmis, AV Gallego-Sala, L Harris, HE Kretser, JR Melton, D Murdiyarso, SD Sasmito, E Swails, A Wijaya, RS Winton & D Zarin (2025). Mismatch Between Global Importance of Peatlands and the Extent of Their Protection. Conservation Letters. First published: 12 February 2025 https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13080
This story originally appeared on the Global Water Forum
Banner image: Peatlands accumulate partially decomposed organic matter, preventing the release of billions of tons of carbon-dioxide to the atmosphere. They store around 600 billion tons of carbon yet only 17% of peatlands fall within a protected area. What’s more, nearly one-quarter of the world’s peatlands are under heavy pressure from human encroachment. (Image ©WCS Chile)
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