Sectoral Activities: Peat Extraction Strategy & Briefing

Strategy

The successful implementation of NbS in freshwater restoration relies heavily on collaboration and coordination across sectors due to their interdependencies and shared reliance on healthy ecosystems. Each Sectoral Strategy highlights key connections with others, emphasizing the need for integrated approaches to overcome challenges and leverage opportunities for transformation.

Peat Extraction intersects mostly with Agriculture and WSS, especially concerning water management and land-use practices. Effective peatland restoration stabilizes water flows, improves water quality, and enhances biodiversity, delivering benefits to these sectors. For instance, rewetting degraded peatlands can reduce agricultural runoff and improve water quality for WSS. However, challenges like income loss for farmers and the impact of rewetting on waterways require coordinated policies, financial incentives such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), and joint planning efforts involving local communities, policymakers, and industry stakeholders.

Briefing 

Degraded peatlands are a source of Greenhouse gases, but healthy ecosystems are carbon sinks and important habitats. Peat extraction sites may be a small proportion of Europe’s peatland in need of restoration, but the sector is an important source of restoration knowledge and techniques as well as a source of carbon emissions and impact on water, soil and biodiversity. MERLIN is working with the sector on climate and nature friendly after-use for past sites and wider landscape collaboration. Core stakeholders in our community of practice include peat extraction companies and their umbrella associations at European and national levels.

Strategy author: Alhassan Ibrahim (James Hutton Institute), Kirsty Blackstock (James Hutton Institute), Jack Rieley (IPS), AnnaHelena Purre (IPS), Örjan Berglund (IPS)

Briefing author: Fanni Nyírő, Alhassan Ibrahim, Esther Carmen, Anna Bérczi-Siket, Kirsty Blackstock