Peatlands exist on every continent except Antarctica, and they form in a huge variety of conditions – from the warm tropics to cold circumpolar regions. Peatlands in the Northern Hemisphere cover around 3.6 million square kilometers and contain between 400 and 600 gigatons of carbon, while tropical peatlands cover around 0.4 million square kilometers,with a carbon pool of 80 to 90 gigatons.

However, anthropogenic impacts on peatland ecosystems through drainage and degradation have resulted in the loss of many valued ecosystem services. Efforts to restore degraded peatlands, in order to enhance ecological integrity and human resilience, have seen mixed levels of success. This session is aimed at sharing some of those success stories, as well as new learnings that have been gathered in the recent past.

Objectives

• To share information on peatland restoration practices, barriers to achieving this, and the potential to overcome these barriers.
• Exchange of scientific and practical knowledge for greater understanding of peatlands and their societal contexts and connections.

Registration

Opening - peatland restoration and resilience

Need for restoration as part of Natural Climate Solutions

Speaker

Florian Humpenöder

Postdoctoral Researcher, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Effective monitoring and management of peatland restoration

Speaker

Rupesh Bhomia

Scientist, Climate Change & Low Carbon Development Theme, CIFOR-ICRAF

Peatland restoration in Americas

Speaker

Erik Lilleskov

Research Ecologist, USFS

Restoration efforts in Indonesia

Speaker

Daniel Murdiyarso

Principal Scientist, CIFOR-ICRAF

Peatland restoration in Europe

Speaker

Roxane Andersen

Environmental Institute, University of the Highlands & Islands, Thurso, U.K.

Panel/Q&A

Discuss barriers to implementation and approaches for overcoming those barriers; answer questions.

Closing

Speaker

Erik Lilleskov

Research Ecologist, USFS