WCC 2016 Res 043 - Activity Report

The UK Peatland Strategy was launched in 2018. The UK Peatland Strategy aims to drive and co-ordinate action across the UK, supported by country level plans that will establish a course for peatland conservation and management at a more detailed level. It has also been used as an example of peatland strategy and showcased internationally.

Preparatory work is underway to develop a reporting spreadsheet to be distributed to IUCN National Committees for monitoring purposes against the Resolutions recommendations for strategic peatland plans. The resolution has been promoted through an IUCN UK Peatland Programme (IUCN UK PP) and Climate Change Briefing, at the IUCN UK PP Conference 2018 as well as several International events including COP24, and through social media.

A baseline summary of strategic action in peatland nations is being undertaken. This is being delivered in two phases:

1. An initial desktop review of available (English language) information (see “data collection”) from all 175 peatland countries including all IUCN member states will identify which countries have peatland strategies in place or in preparation.

2. More detailed information will be sought via a questionnaire to a sub-set of these countries where peatlands are most extensive, emit most GHGs and/or have the most significant carbon stocks This approach will target both countries with a significant peat resource and also countries with have large emissions arising from damaged peatlands, thus fitting closely with the conserve and protect ethos of the IUCN Resolution 43. A suggested list (amalgamated from the ‘Global Peatland CO2 Picture’ report) is provided in Annex 1.

The outputs from this assessment can also feed into the policy sections of the Global Assessment of Peatlands (2018) which is being led by the Global Peatlands Initiative.