Uniquely, an Australian subtropical peatland ecosystem exists that is not only resilient to the frequent bushfires, but actually needs fire to survive.
Peat is a natural carbon sink but is often found in house plants and other retail products, particularly within the food and farming industry.
New Africa/Shutterstock
Peatlands safely store hundreds to thousands of years’ worth of humanity’s toxic legacy but climate change and physical disturbances are putting these pollution vaults, and us, at risk.
Paludiculture in action. Chain-drive equipped tractors are a prerequisite for agricultural activities on rewetted peat soils.
(Tobias Dahms)
Drained peatlands contribute five per cent of global carbon emissions. Paludiculture, or agriculture on wet peatlands, protects peatlands and allows farmers to maintain their livelihoods.
Heavy rainfall and degrading peatland are putting archaeological artefacts at increased risk of decay.
139904/Pixabay
Peatlands play an outsized role in filtering water and mitigating floods, drought and wildfire — and they store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests.
Peatlands worldwide are running short of water, and the amount of greenhouse gases this could set loose would be devastating for our efforts to curb climate change.
The United Nation Environment Program is leading the Global Peatlands Initiative to save peatlands and help keep climate change in check.
(Bin Xu)
Peatlands store more soil carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem, including tropical forests. But they have been heavily exploited and damaged. Now, scientists are working to restore them.
BRG could focus on communities to support its peatland restoration efforts in the next term.
ANTARA FOTO/Rony Muharrman/aww.
Indonesia’s Peatland Restoration Agency is likely to have its tenure extended by four years. What has been achieved and what should the agency focus on for the next term?
We have developed an online tool to help authorities identify which areas they should focus on for reducing forest fires and haze in order to maximize overall health benefits.
As Amazon fires rage, Indonesia faces similar issues with peat fires that have been burning for several weeks in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Ministry of Environment and Forestry
The boreal forest is being reshaped by wildfire. As climate change intensifies wildfire activity, the boreal forest will likely become a carbon source.
A wildfire rips through the forest near Fort McMurray on Highway 63 in May 2016.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
As unlikely as it may sound, a new approach for fighting the destruction of wildfires in Canada’s boreal region may lie in wetlands packed with soaking layers of peat and topped with living moss.
A seismic line (petroleum exploration corridor) traverses a wetland in northern Alberta.
Eamon MacMahon
The dry arid conditions that come with a high CO2 atmospheres are the perfect tinderbox for wildfires.
The complete ban on burning peatlands, while effective in reducing forest and land fires, may in the long run harm the local agriculture industry.
Reuters/Beawiharta
Dede Rohadi, Centre for International Forestry Research
Zero-burning policy could hurt small-holder farmers. The ban on the use of fire for land clearing has raised the costs to prepare their land for planting and to keep it pest-free.