Peatlands as important if not more so than tropical rainforest

An Irish parliamentary Committee has been told that Peatlands are as important as the Tropical rainforest for our planet. This from Green News ie:

“Conservation measures to protect Ireland’s unique peatlands over the past three decades have been a “colossal failure”, an Oireachtas committee heard today.

The stark warning from Padraig Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust came during a hearing of the heritage committee on the preservation of biodiversity of peatlands this afternoon.

Peatlands cover around 20 per cent of the state’s land area and an intact peatland will actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

They are estimated to store 20 to 30 percent of the world’s soil carbon – three times more than that stored in tropical rainforests.

Today, however, two-thirds of Ireland’s peatland has been converted to other uses in agriculture, forestry, and active peat extraction that alone affects 84 percent of our raised bogs.”

Full article at this link:

https://greennews.ie/conservation-policy-protect-peatlands…/

Image: Part of the railway operated by Bord na Móna. The semi state body has an extensive network, which has carried up to 5 million tonnes annually, and is larger than the main Irish network (passenger and freight) operated by Iarnród Éireann. Bord na Móna has one of the largest industrial railways in Europe.

Bernard Moffatt

Celtic League