Many people are aware that the rapid loss of forests – and their carbon stocks – contributes significantly to climate change. Yet few realise that carbon emissions linked to peatland degradation worldwide are at least as important as those due to forest loss.

These emissions are often not caused by any valuable economic activity, but result instead from the wasteful use of wetland areas. In terms of carbon values, billions are literally going down the drain and up in smoke every year.

Climate change is significantly fueled by the destruction of the world’s peatlands. All over the world peatlands are being degraded as a result of unsustainable development of peatlands for mining, timber, overgrazing, biofuels and other agriculture. As a result, their enormous quantities of organic carbon are being released in the form of carbon dioxide; currently already an amount of 3000 Mt carbon dioxide per year, or equal to 11 percent of all fossil fuel emissons. 

Peatlands: crucial carbon stocks 

Peatlands include wetlands like moors, peatswamp forests or permafrost tundra; all areas with a thick organic soil layer. Altogether they contain nearly 30 percent of all land-based carbon (550 GT carbon), while only covering three percent of the global land area. This is 75% of all atmospheric carbon, and twice the carbon stock in the forest biomass of the world. 

A silent disaster

As soon as peatlands are drained, the dry peat starts oxidating, decomposing, and emitting carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas. This is not a very visible process, but happens very rapidly in the tropics. The carbon emissions are often accelerated by tens of thousands of peat fires that last for months. 

Worst case example in South-east Asia

The problem is especially serious in the tropical peatlands of South-east Asia, in particular in Indonesia. Logging and drainage of peatswamp forests leads to an average annual emission of an alarming 2000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (600 Mt from decomposition and 1400 Mt from fires). This is an amount equal to 8% of all global emissions from fossil fuel emissions, while it takes place on only 0.1% of the global land surface.

See publication: PEAT-CO2, Assessment of CO2 emissions from drained peatlands in SE Asia, Wetlands International, WL/Delft Hydraulics, Alterra

Grim outlook

The perspectives only get worse. The Indonesian and Malaysian governments are, for instance planning an expansion of palm oil plantations of 6 million hectares in the next 20 years; over 50% on tropical peatlands.

A major threat is also coming from other regions with much larger peatland carbon stocks.These regions are together already emitting 1000 Mt carbon dioxide a year. For instance high altitude peatlands in the Himalayas are degrading due to overgrazing, resulting in the danger of increased floods and droughts in countries like India and China. Large peat permafrost areas in Canada and Russia are under threat by global warming itself. Outcomes of our research in these areas demonstrate that this is already happening, see Global Peatland Assessment.

Need for rapid action

If peatland conservation and management strategies do not improve, the huge carbon stocks represented in peatland areas will further shrink and associated greenhouse gas emissions will be enhanced. Wetlands International calls for rapid action to sutain and restore the world's peatlands.

Especially very little time is left to save Indonesia's unique swamp forest areas. Click here for the actions needed to sustain and restore the peatlands of South East Asia.

Good options to stop this

Avoiding emissions from peatlands with damaged hydrology is possible and very cost effective. Wetlands International is currently working on avoiding millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions through reforestation and by closing drainage canals in Central Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Managing existing intact peatlands not only prevents a huge contribution to greenhouse gas emissions; it also protects unique biodiversity, safeguards the world’s largest carbon store, prevents extreme run off of rivers, and helps to secure livelihoods of millions depending on the areas.

In order to really tackle this problem, global action is needed.

Global Peatland Fund

To enable rapid action to restore and sustain peatlands, Wetlands International has recently initiated The Global Peatland Fund, a carbon offsetting initiative that guarantees Voluntary Emissions Reductions and emissions removals (VER’s). Read more.