Download Peatlands - Wetlands International

Peatlands & climate change
Alex Kaat, Wetlands International
[email protected]
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Content of this presentation
Peatlands: What & where
A climate / biodiversity disaster
This can be solved at low costs
What to do: Role for CBD
Short film
What are peatlands?
Peatlands are wetlands where waterlogging delays decay, and
dead plant materials form an organic soil: peat soil
Peat: organic matter accumulated over thousands of years
storing carbon in thick layers
A peat bog is rain
water fed
Peat swamp forest
River
Mineral Soil
Organic matter
River
… from the tundra …
Yakutia, RF
… to the tropics and …
Borneo
…from the mountains …
Kyrgystan
… to the sea …
Archangelsk, RF
Finland
Values
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Poor for agriculture
Rich biodiversity
Water storage (peat = 90% water!)
Carbon content!
Global peatland distribution
• Occur in 175 countries
• 4 million km2 world wide (3 % of global land surface)
Logging, palm oil pulpwood SE Asia
Drainage -peatfires in Russia, 2010
Mining for fuel – horticulture
Drainage for agriculture, overgrazing
Changing climate?
Stream
channel
Stream
channel
Drainage leads to subsidence - CO2 emissions
Peat
dome
CO2
Clay / sand
CO2
CO2
Drained peatlands are also
extra fire prone
CO2
CO2
Impact of drainage of tropical peatlands
Relation between CO2 emission and watertable depth
CO2 emission (t / ha / yr)
100
Source: Alterra
Tropics
Temperate
Boreal
80
60
40
20
Source: Wösten, Alterra
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
average watertable depth (m)
0.8
• Drainage to 1 meter = emission of 90 ton CO2/ha/yr
• When drained, peatlands become increasingly
vulnerable to fires
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Threatened carbon stores
• Peatsoil 1400 Tonne / ha (rainforest 375 tonne C / ha)
• Globally 550 Giga ton (Gt) C
• 30% of terrestrial carbon
• 75% of all carbon in the atmosphere
• 15% (or 50 million ha) is threatened and degrading
• releasing 2 Gt CO2 per annum
• 6% of global emissions
Magnitude of peat in climate issues
Global terrestial carbon (1800 GT C)
Other terrestial
Forest stocks
Peat stocks
CO2 emissions (total 35 Gt/yr)
Fossil
Forest cover
Peat
Hotspots of CO2 emissions from drained peat
Annual global peatland emissions 2 Giga ton CO2
USA
72 Mt
EU
174 Mt
Russia
160 Mt
115 Mt
Central Asia
1 Gt
SE Asia
Solutions:
conservation
and restoration
Rewetting:
the solution
China Ruourgai
2003
2006
Re-greening degraded peatlands
Physical situation
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Peatlands: large carbon stock under threat
Different from forests: ongoing emissions
Easy / low cost to halt emissions
Many co- benefits
(biodiversity, water storage!)
Global Political situation
UN Policies (FCCC)
• Emissions are not accounted in Annex 1
• No incentives (KP, REDD, CDM)
Positive change…
• Wetland management in drafts for
LULUCF (new activity)
• IPCC: review methodology on peat
CBD: 5.6 Biodiversity and climate change
• Strong focus on forests only
• Reference to REDD / REDD plus
• Peat once mentioned in a long list of
ecosystems.
Strategic plan
Target 15
“By 2020, ecosystem resillience and the contribution of biodiversity
to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through conservation and
restoration, including restoration of at least 15% degraded
ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and
adaptation and to combating desertification.”
• Good target as ‘restoration of 15% is
ambitious.
• No clear target on emissions or
conservation of stocks.
Make countries aware
Yes, there is peat in your country
Science base developed …
Downloadable from
www.wetlands.org
Aim: No doubts among Parties on
• Urgency of the issue
• Option to address problem