There’s new science on the burning of upland peatlands and which is getting a good airing in both the media and climate change circles.
Every big scientific project needs a good acronym these days and the Leeds University team hits the spot with EMBER - Effects of Moorland Burning Ecohydrology of River basins. And in line with the acronym, the results show that the damage that burning heather has on wildlife, climate change and the environment is far worse than previously thought, and more wide ranging - water run-off from burned peat harms aquatic life in the rivers that spring from these uplands. In short, managed burning has a profound impact on the life support systems of the peatlands in our hills.
Crucial to climate change, the study affirmed that that heather burning warms and dries out the peat it grows in, causing the peat to disintegrate and release large quantities of stored carbon dioxide. Burning also hampers the growth of the Sphagnum mosses that are fundamental to the peaty wetland ecosystem that stores, rather than emits, carbon. EMBER co-author Professor Joseph Holden sums it up “Altering the hydrology of peatlands so they become drier is known to cause significant losses of carbon from storage in the soil. This is of great concern, as peatlands are the largest natural store for carbon on the land surface of the UK and play a crucial role in climate change. They are the ‘Amazon of the UK’.”
Intensive burning and drainage measures on a Natura 2000 deep peatland site in the Pennines
That’s why the RSPB, together with 12 other organisations, is asking Government to work to ensure that we triple the area of English upland peatlands that are managed properly for their peatland ecosystems and services. That’s another 200,000 hectares – and with new upland agri-environment schemes being developed and finalised, extra funding from Scottish Government for Scotland’s peatbogs, and a Welsh Government plan to restore all Wales’ bogs, and international biodiversity targets for 2020, there’s no better time for Government to act for English upland bogs.
This will not wait: we need action on carbon emissions and peatland ecosystem restoration now. And as our short report shows it’s an easy win for climate, for wildlife and for the benefits people and society get from healthy upland peatlands. So, Defra, let’s do it.