Image credit:
Professor Joseph Holden
(November 23, 2015) A
new Government-backed code has been launched that could slash UK carbon dioxide
emissions by 220 million tonnes and protect rare wildlife by restoring moors,
bogs and mires.
The Peatland Code is unveiled at the World Forum for Natural
Capital in Edinburgh on 23 November following a successful two-year trial,
which has seen businesses fund peatland restoration projects in southwest
England, the Lake District and Wales.
The Code is based on research by academics at the University
of Leeds and Birmingham City University, which revealed that sustainable
business investment could reverse the degradation of peatlands and
significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Professor Joseph Holden, from the School of Geography, who
led research, said: “The peatlands of the UK are our own version of the Amazon
rainforest. They need to be protected. They are home to some of our rare and
endangered wildlife.
“They also act as a huge store of carbon, with perhaps as
much as 3.2 billion tonnes, greater than the amount of carbon soaked up every
year by all of the world’s oceans combined. The UK’s peatlands are also
important source areas for the provision of clean drinking water while
protection of many of our peatlands may reduce flood risk."