Peatlands in Scotland’s rural future

What role do peatlands play in Scotland’s rural future? Perhaps more pertinently, what role do peatlands play in the future of Scotland’s rural economy, and of the nation’s ecology?

The latter question is easier to answer than the former.

Peat-forming ecosystems are found in areas where waterlogging prevents sufficient oxygen reaching the layers of dead plant material accumulating at ground-level; in turn, arresting the rate of decomposition of that organic matter. Peatlands are home to a variety of species, notably a wide diversity of Sphagnum mosses, act as the principal engineers of carbon sequestration in these environments (Fig. 1). Carbon storage – a role that we have bestowed on peatlands – is now a serious business!

Approximately 20 per cent of Scotland’s terrestrial surface is occupied by these soggy-scapes. In a healthy condition – as a functioning peat-forming ecosystem – these environments have accumulated c. 1600 million tonnes of carbon. This volume of stored carbon is equivalent to the annual emissions of Scotland for 140 years. However, only approximately 20 per cent of the peatlands in Scotland are sinking carbon dioxide; the vast majority are churning it out.

Over decades of mis-management – principally in an era prior to political rhetoric around carbon emissions – formerly peat-forming ecosystems were re-purposed to allow for dry-land practices. One such practice was the draining and piling of peatlands to support commercial forestry, with fast-growing, non-native conifers. In 1970s and 1980s, significant tax incentives were offered by the Scottish Government to encourage private planting to support the post-war afforestation drive.

Now, the Government is providing financial incentives to do exactly the opposite: to take off the timber and block the drains, in order to recreate the hydrological and ecological integrity of these peatlands necessary for re-establishing their role as carbon sinks. Peatland ACTION, a Scottish Government programme, is providing £250 million of public funds over 10 years with the aim of restoring 250,000 hectares of the nation’s damaged peatlands by 2030.

In addition to subsidies, private parties are being encouraged to invest in peatlands as a means of offsetting their carbon emissions and/or their corporate conscience. The Peatland Code, administered by the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, provides a standard approach for managing peat-carbon transactions through the UK Voluntary Carbon Market. The Code is also a tool for plugging the publicised c. £20 billion funding gap for nature-related activities in Scotland.

So, Scotland’s rural future is bright, blanketed in revitalised bogs? By 2024, nearing halfway through the decade of restoration action, 51,000 hectares – c. 20 per cent of Scotland’s damaged peatlands – have been set on the “road to recovery” through Peatland ACTION interventions. Despite the apparent availability of funding, their pathway to restoration is not clear yet.

One key reason for the slower-than-planned pace of restoration, stems from the central protagonist of many climate change mitigation tales: carbon. This global ‘commodity’ – found in tangible physical and intangible economic forms in peatlands – has complicated the restoration story for landowners and managers, needing to decide which route to restoration best serves their needs.

This decision paralysis is a particular challenge in crofting communities. Where Common Grazings coincide with peatlands – of which a large majority do – crofters have rights to graze their animals and cut peat (for use as a domestic fuel) (Fig. 3). These practices are not new, and not as damaging as, for example, the establishment of a conifer plantation or a ‘farm’ of wind turbines on peat soils. Yet, these communities are under pressure to address areas of peatlands under their stewardship, which are likely to be emitting carbon.

Crofting communities are being confronted with routes to restoration that either entail no revenue but retention of rights (via Peatland ACTION), or a (potentially) significant financial sum but unknown implications for future access and use of the peatlands for which they have been the long-term stewards. What might the unintended consequences be of turning their landscapes into long-term carbon machines, bound by a legal contract? What will happen if their ‘restored’ peatlands start to release carbon again as the climate warms and rainfall patterns change? But faced with a cost-of-living crisis and energy poverty, can they afford to turn down revenue from carbon credit sales?

There are many questions to be answered for these communities. And indeed, also for restoration practitioners: including what constitutes a ‘restored’ peatland?, or a ‘community’? for starters. Finding answers to these questions is fundamental to developing an approach to restoration that will allow peatlands to play a key part in Scotland’s rural future.

To learn more about Lydia’s project in the Outer Hebrides, take a look at Peatland Restoration: A Guide for Crofting Communities.

Dr Lydia Cole, Conservation Ecologist, School of Geography and Sustainable Development at The University of St Andrews

This article originally appeared in ReSourcE spring/summer 2025.

The RSE’s blog series offers personal views on a variety of issues. These views are not those of the RSE and are intended to offer different perspectives on a range of current issues.