Last Sunday I spoke about peat composts, but to be honest I don’t know the details of the argument for and against their use, so when I saw this link (‘Latest news on Peatland Carbon Code’) on Twitter I opened it thinking it would contain some useful information. It did, but not in the anticipated way.
Here is a list of the projects, conferences and committees casually named:
- Valuing Peatlands project
- NERC’s Valuing Nature Network (VNN)
- Defra’s Ecosystem Markets Taskforce
- Rural Economy and Land Use Programme
- Payments for Ecosystem Services
- Defra’s Payments for Ecosystem Services Best Practice Guide
- The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) conference
- Peatland and organic soils climate change mitigation initiative
- UNFCCC Climate Change conference
If you look at their ‘Who Are We?’ page your head will pop with the number of organisations involved.
And then look at the ‘What Are We Doing?’ page – hilarious. Here’s a snippet:
• Where extensification leads to a significant reduction in managed burning and grazing or land abandonment, changes in vegetation type and structure could compromise a range of species that are important for conservation, whilst compromising provisioning services, amenity value and increasing wildfire risk
• However, where extensification leads to the restoration of peatlands damaged by former intensive management, there would be an increase in carbon sequestration and storage, with a number of co-benefits, which could counter the loss of habitats and species elsewhere in the landscape
(Hmm, my spellchecker doesn’t recognise the word extensification)
Now, I am a mere housewife and do not know the reality of the situation. I know what they are trying to say (I think), and I can guess what they are trying to do, but is it that complicated it needs people to talk about it over and over again?
Update: while I was typing this post I had an exchange on Twitter with Sustainable Uplands. Credit to them for trying to explain, but I'll let you make your own judgements. (First tweet is at the bottom)
How ironic those desolate lone moors, where very few people set foot, can sustain so many office-bound jobs.
