The Significance of Peat Bog
Peat bogs are one of the planet’s most significant and threatened ecosystems and account for approximately 3% of the world’s surface; however they contain more carbon than all of the world’s rainforests. Cutting down rainforests (deforestation) releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; draining and drying out peat bogs has the same effect. The UK has 15% of the blanket peatland bogs in the world and peat covers 3-5% of the surface of Wales.
In the UK it is estimated that peat bogs drained and damaged through agro commerce and construction currently release 3.7m tonnes of carbon dioxide annually; that’s equivalent to the average yearly emissions of 660,000 households! Healthy and well managed peat bogs on the other hand remove 30 to 70 tonnes of carbon per square kilometre from the atmosphere annually.