A new partnership involving the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) will provide a blueprint for sustainable farming on UK peatlands.
Peatlands help mitigate climate change by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon, as well as providing important habitats for rare insects and plants, and improving water quality. But most peatlands in the UK, including the Fens in Cambridgeshire, have been degraded by human activity, particularly drainage for agriculture, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere.
The new five-year project, Peatland Progress: A New Vision for the Fens, which is backed by £8 million Lottery funding, is bringing together scientists, academics, businesses and land managers to explore the possibilities of wet farming, or paludiculture.
Read More: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Woodwalton Fen by drone (Photo Credit: Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants)