UK peatlands are valued for the ecosystem services they provide—storing carbon to cool the climate, controlling water supply, hosting biodiversity, providing spaces for recreation, and preserving a record of the past. In the twentieth century, around 15 percent of UK peatlands were ploughed and planted with non-native conifer species, creating financial capital but imperilling some forms of natural capital. As many of these conifer plantations reach harvesting age, critical questions concern what should be done next: should trees be replanted, or should peatlands be restored to open habitats?
This report conducted a stakeholder consultation exercise to identify the key questions of concern to allow decisions to be made on such natural capital tradeoffs in afforested peatlands, now and in the future. A review of the current evidence highlights the absence of key data, in particular the lack of a robust greenhouse gas (GHG) budget for any afforested UK peatland. The report states that the current knowledge allows mechanisms to be theorized, but that no robust answer to even the basic questions of whether planting trees on peat exacerbate or ameliorate climate change. Addressing this question requires new, primary, scientific data collection but also assessment of the role of peatland wood-products in the supply chain and the consequences of their withdrawal. Other important themes included in the report are biodiversity change, the limits to restoration, natural capital valuation, and flooding.