Greenhouse Gas Removal by Accelerated Peat Formation
Lead Research Organisation:
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Department Name: Soils and Land Use (Bangor)
Abstract
Peatlands store more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem, both in the UK and globally. As a result of human disturbance they are rapidly losing this carbon to the atmosphere, contributing significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
We propose to turn this problem into a solution, by re-establishing and augmenting the unique natural capacity of peatlands to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and to store it securely for millennia. We will do this by working with natural processes to recreate, and where possible enhance, the environmental conditions that lead to peat formation, in both lowland and upland Britain. At the same time, we will optimise conditions to avoid emissions of methane and nitrous oxide that could offset the benefits of CO2 removal; develop innovative cropping and management systems to augment rates of CO2 uptake; evaluate whether we can further increase peat carbon accumulation through the formation and addition of biomass and biochar; and develop new economic models to support greenhouse gas removal by peatlands as part of profitable and sustainable farming and land management systems.
Implementation of these new approaches to the 2.3 million hectares of degraded upland and lowland peat in the UK has the potential to remove significant quantities of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, to secure carbon securely and permanently within a productive, biodiverse and self-sustaining ecosystem, and thereby to help the UK to achieve its ambition of having net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
We propose to turn this problem into a solution, by re-establishing and augmenting the unique natural capacity of peatlands to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and to store it securely for millennia. We will do this by working with natural processes to recreate, and where possible enhance, the environmental conditions that lead to peat formation, in both lowland and upland Britain. At the same time, we will optimise conditions to avoid emissions of methane and nitrous oxide that could offset the benefits of CO2 removal; develop innovative cropping and management systems to augment rates of CO2 uptake; evaluate whether we can further increase peat carbon accumulation through the formation and addition of biomass and biochar; and develop new economic models to support greenhouse gas removal by peatlands as part of profitable and sustainable farming and land management systems.
Implementation of these new approaches to the 2.3 million hectares of degraded upland and lowland peat in the UK has the potential to remove significant quantities of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, to secure carbon securely and permanently within a productive, biodiverse and self-sustaining ecosystem, and thereby to help the UK to achieve its ambition of having net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Organisations
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (Lead Research Organisation)
- Polybell Farms Ltd (Collaboration)
- Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (Collaboration)
- Queen's University Belfast (Collaboration)
- OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS (Project Partner)
- National Institute of Agricultural Botany (Project Partner)
- Natural England (Project Partner)
- Elan Valley Trust (Project Partner)
- Natural Resources (Wales) Limited (Project Partner)
- Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (Project Partner)
- UK Climate Change Committee (Project Partner)
- IUCN UK Peatland Programme (Project Partner)
- Polybell Organic (Project Partner)
- NATIONAL TRUST (Project Partner)
- North Pennines AONB Partnership (Project Partner)
- National Farmers Union (NFU) (Project Partner)
- THE RIVERS TRUST (Project Partner)
- Broads Authority (Project Partner)
- Terravesta (Project Partner)
- WELSH GOVERNMENT (Project Partner)
- Micropropagation Services EM Ltd (Project Partner)
Publications
Butnar I
(2024)
A Review of Life Cycle Assessment Methods to Inform the Scale-Up of Carbon Dioxide Removal Interventions
in WIREs Energy and Environment
Evans C
(2024)
Biomethane produced from maize grown on peat emits more CO2 than natural gas
in Nature Climate Change
Evans M
(2023)
Managing UK upland peat for greenhouse gas removal
Jeewani PH
(2025)
Greenhouse gas removal in agricultural peatland via raised water levels and soil amendment.
in Biochar
McGuire R
(2022)
Potential Co-benefits and trade-offs between improved soil management, climate change mitigation and agri-food productivity
in Food and Energy Security
Reed M
(2023)
Governing high-integrity ecosystem markets
Ritson J.P.
(2023)
The use of historical accounts of species distribution to suggest restoration targets for UK upland mires within a 'moorland' landscape
in Mires and Peat
Ritson, J.P.
(2023)
The use of historical accounts of species distribution to suggest restoration targets for UK upland mires within a 'moorland' landscape.
in Mires and Peat
Williams-Mounsey J
(2023)
Surface structure on abandoned upland blanket peatland tracks.
in Journal of environmental management
| Title | VR Tour of the demonstrator sites |
| Description | A VR tour of the three demonstrator sites, Featherbed Moss (Peak District), Pwllpeiran (mid-Wales) and Pollybell (East Anglia). |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | This VR tour has enabled partners and interested parties to understand the nature of the three experimental demonstrator sites. |
| URL | https://www.ggrpeat.org/virtualtour |
| Description | Blended finance options in Scottish Government's Natural Capital Market Framework |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | Blended finance options informed by this research, were announced in the Natural Capital Market Framework, to de-risk and responsibly scale landowner engagement with peatland carbon markets, helping meet growing investor demand and Scottish Government restoration targets (announced as part of a new "peatland pilot" in collaboration with Peatland ACTION) |
| URL | https://www.gov.scot/publications/natural-capital-market-framework/ |
| Description | Co-chair GBEP Environmental GSI working group |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Description | Contributions to the Defra Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Ongoing, but task force recommendations are contributing to the development of government policy on future management of lowland agricultural peatlands, including GGR potential, via ELMS, changes in regulation, engagement with the farming community and the identification of infrastructure, water resource and regulatory needs to support environmentally and economically sustainable management. |
| Description | Evidence to Climate Change, Environment & Infrastructure Committee 21st March 2024 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://record.senedd.wales/Committee/13727 |
| Description | FLEX Standard BECCS |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Description | House of Lords Inquiry into Nature Based Solutions |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5802/ldselect/ldsctech/147/14702.htm |
| Description | National and international engagement on high-integrity nature markets |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Research shaped Scottish Government's Natural Capital Market Framework |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | • Findings from our research on community benefits helped shaped a draft standard as part of Scottish Government (FIRNS) funded work (with Reed as a lead author) that has fed into the development of a BSI standard (BSI Flex 705, forthcoming). Accreditation to this standard will be mandatory for all nature markets seeking to meet any of the BSI standards in the family (i.e., to gain accreditation to the carbon standard Flex 703, codes will have to also gain accreditation to the community engagement and benefits standard Flex 705). This included the trialling of early guidance with the Peatland Code, leading to significant revisions to the engagement section in the latest version of the Code and changes to the draft community engagement and benefits standard. The announcement in the Natural Capital Market Framework, that Natural Capital Partnership Officers would be piloted, echoes recommendations from this research on how to practically integrate community benefits from natural capital markets; • The community engagement and benefits standard (BSI Flex 705) in turn has been used to demonstrate alignment between the BSI Nature Investment Standards Programme and ICVCM's Core Carbon Principles. Specifically, this work has been used to show how the BSI standards exceed ICVCM's requirements on engagement and community benefit, positioning the UK at the leading edge of natural capital market integrity and social responsibility internationally. As a result, negotiations are now underway with ICVCM to use BSI accreditation to fast track accreditation to the Core Carbon Principles and vice versa. If successful, this will give those who achieve accreditation access to international markets via ICVCM whilst demonstrating compliance with the world's most stringent integrity tests via BSI; • Insights from the work have also fed into other aspects of BSI's Nature Investment Standards Programme, which features prominently in the Natural Capital Market Framework. This includes significant influence over the carbon standard (BSI Flex 703; Reed is lead author), which creates options for high integrity blended finance via a more stringent set of additionality criteria than is currently used by ICVCM, and related to this introduces standards for stacking payments for multiple ecosystem services, which is absent from ICVCM and advising on other standards in the programme). A number of elements were added around market governance to the overarching principles standard (BSI Flex 701), based on this research, bringing BSI's Nature Investment Standards Programme in line with ICVCM. However, unlike ICVCM, which only applies to carbon, these principles apply across all natural capital markets in the UK. Changes were also made to the biodiversity standard (BSI Flex 702; Reed is on the Advisory Group) to ensure compatibility with carbon markets, enabling stacking of biodiversity and carbon, which is being trialled in the Peatland Code and Woodland Carbon Code via a FIRNS project (which Reed is contributing towards); • Recommendations on implementation of the VCMI Claims Code to tackle greenwashing are now being explored with Defra and DESNZ, pending a decision on a UK or Scottish pilot with VCMI; • The team's work helped clarify how VAT would be applied to the sale of natural capital units, and is shaping guidance to be issued by the Peatland Code and Woodland Carbon Code; • The team's work on biodiversity has significantly shaped NPF4 planning guidance on Developing with Nature (on the creation of biodiversity metrics) to verify that developers are delivering net biodiversity enhancement. Our work on biodiversity metrics underpins a new internal Scottish Government good practice guide for agriculture, planning and natural capital policy teams on measuring progress towards SG Biodiversity Strategy. It has also contributed to the development of a new biodiversity market, bundling biodiversity units with Peatland Code and Woodland Carbon Code units (now a separate project funded by FIRNS); • The team helped shape arguments for the inclusion of peatlands in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, feeding into a consultation response and meetings with DESNZ (as lead for UK Government) and representatives of each devolved administration to explore the potential implications of such a decision. The consultation had initially ruled out the inclusion of peatlands, but if peatlands are included in the Scheme, it will represent a significant new market for peatland carbon, helping scale restoration efforts. It would also send a strong policy message about the validity of active emissions avoidance from peatlands, as opposed to passive avoidance via avoided deforestation, helping secure the future of peatland carbon markets internationally. |
| URL | https://www.gov.scot/publications/natural-capital-market-framework/ |
| Description | Shaping the British Standards Institute's first standards to regulate nature markets in the UK |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Significantly shaping Defra's Nature Market Framework |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | Among other changes to the text, his inputs significantly shaped the wording of text on stacking multiple payments for ecosystem services, a critical issue for market integrity and reach, that is being researched in the GGR Peat project. As part of this work, Reed's team advised Defra's Sustainable Farming Incentive team on stacking private payments for soil carbon with Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) payments, which was allowed under SFI but inconsistent with rules for high integrity ecosystem markets being developed by Defra's Green Finance team for the market framework. |
| Description | Significantly shaping Scottish Government's Nature Investment Framework |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Support to develop governance frameworks for high-integrity ecosystem markets in the UK |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | Minimum standards for soil carbon codes developed by members of our team are now confirmed with Defra and BSI as the basis for the first of a set of BSI standards for carbon codes, to be developed across services, land uses and habitats for the UK using our work as the blueprint, providing impact far beyond the creation of a soil carbon code as originally envisaged. These minimum standards will be used to regulate the operation of all carbon codes and other ecosystem markets in the UK. Version 2.0 of the Peatland Code, incorporating new habitats and land uses on the basis of evidence from our team was published in March 2023 and is now operational. |
| Description | Sustainable Farm Scheme; Carbon Sequestration evidence review panel |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | TAC UNEP Lifecycle Initative |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/activities/life-cycle-assessment-data-and-methods/biogenic-carbo... |
| Description | Updated reporting of GHG emissions and removals for the UK Peatland Code |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | The Peatland Code forms the primary UK mechanism to support private sector investment in peatland restoration, and subsequent generation of carbon credits. It is expected to underpin future investment via the Nature Impact Fund. To date, credits have only been generated based on emissions reductions, but the updated methodology has the potential to support investment in peatland restoration and management for greenhouse gas removal. If peat GGR can be successfully demonstrated, the updated Peatland Code offers a investment and reporting mechanism to support implementation at a UK scale, supporting UK Net Zero policies and generating wider public co-benefits by enabling greater investment in ecosystem restoration. |
| URL | https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/news/launch-peatland-code-version-20 |
| Description | Welsh Government Green Skills - Short Term Review |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | FLEX Standard for BECCS |
| Amount | £20,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Standards Institute (BSI Group) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2024 |
| End | 06/2025 |
| Description | Land Use for Net Zero Hub |
| Amount | £6,590,156 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/Y008723/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2023 |
| End | 03/2027 |
| Description | Peatland Restoration: Optimising Sphagnum Moss for Enhanced Carbon Sequestration and Methane Removal |
| Amount | $50,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | Bezos Earth Fund |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 04/2025 |
| End | 05/2026 |
| Description | BEIS Reverse Coal project |
| Organisation | Polybell Farms Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Phase 1 (completed): Assessment of biochar stability, nutrient retention and leaching risks in organic and mineral soils, to support of a BEIS-funded GGR project to evaluate the capacity of lowland agricultural peatlands and quarries to be used as secure biochar storage facilities. Phase 2 (provisionally funded): Continuation of above plus measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes from biochar production areas (short rotation coppice willow on wet peat) and storage facilities for monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon capture and storage. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project led by Pollybell and carried out at farm also hosting Lowland Demonstrator. Working with agri-tech and civil engineering partners including the University of Lincoln to develop an integrated system of carbon capture and avoided emissions on lowland peat, pyrolysis for biochar and energy production, and biochar storage. Integration of novel system with indoor farming operation and development of carbon finance. |
| Impact | Early results show elevated biochar stability under waterlogged conditions - relevant to both field application and for the creation of storage repositories. Outputs in progress. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Contributions to the DEFRA Paludiculture steering group |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Mr Richard Lindsay and Dr Jack Clough were involved as the academic partners on the original Paludiculture sub-group of the Lowland Agricultural Peat task force to develop the Paludiculture 10 year policy roadmap which was delivered in 2023. This group has now widened in its scope to become the Paludiculture steering group and involves a wider membership. RL and JC have attended regular meetings of the steering group to discuss the tasks needed to achieve the 2023 roadmap, facilitated knowledge exchange with partners, and more recently have provided information and data to Defra's Paludiculture fellow to assist with the creation of several key reports - one focusing on the GHG opportunities for Paludiculture, and one in development concerning the market potential. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The steering group has a broad membership with colleagues from academia, NGO and agriculture. Defra provide ongoing management and organisational structure of the Paludiculture steering group and staff time to support the development of resources. additional members provide expertise based on their relevant research projects and results. together the group is building the evidence base for paludiculture, and attempting to drive the 2023 roadmap forwards. |
| Impact | Several DEFRA reports are due for publication at present, they will be available later this year (2025) |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Facilitating the inclusion of paludiculture and stacking of payments for ecosystem services in peatlands |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GGR-Peat team have been awarded funding from Defra's Paludiculture Exploration Fund to explore the potential for the integration of biochar with paludiculture, with inputs from the GGR Biochar team, to explore the potential to stack multiple carbon payments with other ecosystem market finance, making paludiculture more attractive to farmers and facilitating the upscaling of these practices. If successful, this will provide evidence to update Environment Agency guidelines on biochar application to waterlogged soils and make paludiculture sufficiently attractive to garner more widespread adoption, helping both reduce emissions and sequester carbon in lowland peat soils. |
| Collaborator Contribution | To support this project, the team worked with IUCN and Defra to issue a call for evidence on paludiculture to inform the development of new MRV for paludiculture projects in a future iteration of the Peatland Code, in collaboration with IUCN UK Peatland Programme. This is a crucial scaling mechanism for paludiculture projects, given the potential for carbon markets to contribute towards the opportunity costs of switching from arable and horticultural production. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Sample cores to 'Pollutants in Peatlands' project (PIPES) |
| Organisation | Queen's University Belfast |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This project's Pennine's upland peat moor field-site is providing sample cores as a contribution and link with the 'Pollutants in Peatlands' project (PIPES) with Queens University, Belfast. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This project's Pennine's upland peat moor field-site is providing sample cores as a contribution and link with the 'Pollutants in Peatlands' project (PIPES) with Queens University, Belfast. |
| Impact | Not yet available. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | 2nd International Conference on Negative CO2 Emissions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "Greenhouse Gas Removal by Accelerated Peat Formation" at 2nd International Conference on Negative CO2 Emissions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Article in The Economist entitled "Some of Britain's best farmland is also its most carbon-emitting" featured one of our sites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Article on the 9Nov2022 edition of The Economist entitled "Some of Britain's best farmland is also its most carbon-emitting" featured this project's Pollybell Farm demonstrator field-site and our work on monitoring GHG emissions and rewetting experiments. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Bezos Foundation. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | PI Chris Evans provided advice on peatland restoration and GGR potential, based on work being done in this project, to a US researcher reviewing global land-based climate mitigation options on behalf of the Bezos Foundation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Biomass and Energy Crops VI |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Hosted the Biomass and Energy Crops VI workshop at Aberystwyth University, on both the Penglais and Gogerddan campuses. The workshop brought together the international community including from Europe, North America and Asia with workshop presentations and included site visits to IBERS field plots, phenotyping, seedbank and biorefining facilities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.aab.org.uk/event/biomass-and-energy-crops-vi/ |
| Description | Care-Peat EU project workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Project researcher Jenny Rhymes (UKCEH) was a speaker to the "Care-Peat" EU project workshop in March 2023 presenting the work being carried out at the project's Lowland demonstrator field-site. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Case study for final report of the Defra Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Initial activities from the project have fed into the final report of the Defra Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force, which was due for publication in September 2022. This includes the use of our Lowland Demonstrator, Pollybell Farm, as a case study in the report. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | ECR Net Zero Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | • Expert panel: "COP27 - Reflections and actions" ECR Net Zero Conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Farmers Weekly interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Chris Evans was interviewed by Farmers Weekly for an article on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural peatlands |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/environment/carbon/how-fenland-farmers-are-cutting-greenhouse-gases-from-... |
| Description | Farming Today Interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PI Chris Evans was interviewed by Farming Today about a government paludiculture fund but discussion also covered some aspects of GGR and this project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Fenland Soil conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | GGR project staff contributed to the organisation and running of the Fenland Soil conference in Ely, Cambridgeshire, bringing together an audience of national and international peatland researchers, national policy leads, NGOs, businesses and over 100 members of the farming community, to discuss the future of land-management on agricultural peatlands in the Fens and internationally. UKCEH gave plenary presentations describing the GGR concept and were involved in discussion panels, workshops, field visits and media activities, including an interview for Farmers Weekly. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.fenlandsoil.org/conference-2023/ |
| Description | IUCN Peatland Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Chris Evans gave a plenary presentation measuring and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from agriculturally managed peatlands, including opportunities for reducing emissions within conventional farming systems and approaches to manage peatlands for carbon capture and storage |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/conference-2023 |
| Description | Industry contacts and consultations (several) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A large commercial peat extractor in Ireland made contact with the team, based on information they received about this project to talk to us about peat restoration for GGR in Ireland. We are also in discussion with several businesses regarding investment in degraded peat land for mitigation of emissions and potential GGR. These engagements remain confidential at this stage, but may offer significant potential for extending trials and scaling up peatland GGR in future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Keynote talk to workshop at IUCN UK Peatland Programme Annual Conference 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | My presentation looked at the process of setting peatland restoration trajectories and targets. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp6k_nCTVNQ&list=PLCHzgmmCkCsvWihJOViA5yKDW0808nWlB&index=9 |
| Description | Low Carbon Agriculture Show 2022 (Stoneleigh), Panel Debate: Decarbonising Welsh Agriculture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Iain Donnison was a panel member for the Debate on "Decarbonising Welsh Agriculture" at the Low Carbon Agriculture show at NAEC, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. The event involved Welsh Government, NFU-Cymru, industry and the third sector with Prof Donnison representing academia. There was an audience of several hundred primarily from industry and the initial presentation sparked questions and subsequent discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://lowcarbonagricultureshow.co.uk |
| Description | Meeting with Ceredigion Council leaders to discuss the role of agriculture in low carbon futures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Discussions on the scope for agricultural production to provide feedstock for the future bioeconomy at a local level, in order to safeguard livelihoods. Links to economic development and local growth deals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Net Zero podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | UKCEH produced a podcast on the future of land-management on agricultural peatlands in the UK, and their role in achieving net zero. Chris Evans was interviewed alongside a Fenland farmer, Craig Taylor, at the new Pymoor GGR demonstrator, CLR and Ag Zero Plus project field site. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://audioboom.com/posts/8448594-nature-for-net-zero-0 |
| Description | Newspaper article: Glossop Chronicle |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Glossop Chronicle newspaper article 18Feb22 "Trialling new methods to restore Glossop's peatland" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/news/glossop-chronicle/trialling-new-methods-to-restore-glossops... |
| Description | Paludiculture Workshop in Cambridge |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presented a poster on the work being carried out at the project's lowland peat site at the Paludiculture Workshop held in Cambridge, January 2023 (Jenny Rhymes, UKCEH). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Panel Discussion on Bioscience for Net Zero |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Panel discussion on Bioscience for Net Zero with Aled Jones President, NFU Cymru; Ian Rickman, Deputy President FUW; Paul Billings Managing Director, Germinal GB; Prof Iain Donnison; and Harriet Trewin, BBSRC. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/news/news-article/title-254918-en.html |
| Description | Presentation on measuring the carbon balance of the land surface to a RSPB Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Not recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presented on GGR-Peat project to Irish EPA peat workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Not recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presented on peatlands, water and GGR to the British Hydrological Society annual science meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Not recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presented on the GGR potential of peat restoration to the IUCN Peat Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Not recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Publication: "Vegetable production on lowland peat: Delivering food security, climate change mitigation and biodiversity" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | A thinkpiece titled "Vegetable production on lowland peat: Delivering food security, climate change mitigation and biodiversity" draws on the concept for GGR on lowland peat as explored by this Demonstrator project. The booklet aims to spread spark discussions around the topic of reducing GHG emissions and exploring opportunities for GGR across lowland peat landscapes. The piece was written for the WWF-Tesco partnership by Jenny Rhymes (UKCEH), PI Chris Evans (UKCEH) and Liz Stockdale (NIAB) and was shared amongst lowland peat stakeholders across the UK in November 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Royal Society - BECCS workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invite only workshop on What is the role of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage in the UK's sustainable future? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2024/09/beccs-workshop/ |
| Description | Sustainable Agriculture for the 21st Century through Interdisciplinary exploration in Wales |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Iain Donnison gave a keynote presentation jointly with Karin Metzlaff of EPSO on European collaboration on sustainable agriculture. Dr Metzlaff described the opportunities that exist for collaboration and Prof Donnison described case studies from IBERS participation in current and recently completed projects which included those on Miscanthus from the GRACE and OPTIMISC projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://sustainable-agriculture.b2match.io |
| Description | Talk at Welsh Government COP26 Roadshow: Nature-Based Solutions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation on "Greenhouse gas removal by peatlands" given to virtual event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UEL researchers discussing paludiculture on BBC Countryfile |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Jack Clough and PhD researcher Georgemma Hunt from UEL were invited to take part in filming for Countryfile in July 2024. We spent a day at the Great Fen project and discussed the history of the fens, the problems around drainage and the carbon story which made the edit into the finished episode. The uses of various Paludiculture materials were discussed, with a focus on the GGR-Peat crop - Typha latifolia being they key aspect that made it to the finished episode. This was a great opportunity to show the potential of Paludiculture to the public in an accessible and familiar format. Our segment starts at 28:52 in the below link which was aired on the 28th July 2024 following the episode in |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0021lsr/countryfile-the-fens |
| Description | UKCEH Net Zero stakeholder event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Not recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UKRI Net Zero event, Westminster |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Not recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Visit of King Charles III to project partner |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Project partner University of East London (UEL) hosted HRH King Charles III at a 125th year anniversary of the University's founding. UEL's Sustainability Research Institute hosted a research showcase event at which project Co-I Richard Lindsay spoke to HRH about peatland conversation and this GGR research project. Also attending the event where local dignitaries from Newham council who have had an increased awareness of the GHG mitigation potential of peatlands and nature-based systems as a result. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Visit of display by King Charles III |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A visit by King Charles III to the University of East London enabled us to present a range of external paludiculture partners and activities to His Majesty. Also accompanying this visit were national and local politicians, local businesses and the media. Paludiculture materials were presented as gifts to His Majesty. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://uel.ac.uk/about-uel/news/2023/february/king-visits-uel-mark-125th-anniversary#:~:text=On%20a... |
| Description | Welsh Government COP26 Roadshow, Nature Based Solutions session |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Not recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |