Fact Sheet

8Convention
on Wetlands

Keep Peatlands wet fora better future
Peatlands cover only 3% of the Earth’s land surface,but store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined– if they are kept wet.
Peatlands occur in a great variety
of forms and are present in more thanhalf of all Ramsar sites throughout
the world.
Unwise use of this key wetland typemay damage the features that makepeatlands so important for long-term
carbon storage.
Drainage of peatlands also leads to lossof carbon and fertile soil, including
severe soil subsidence and salt water
intrusion in lowland coastal areas.

Peatlands
Pristine peatlands are characterized
by the presence of water and special
vegetation. The peat soil, often
exceeding many meters in depth,
consists of organic material

Almost every nation on earth has peatlands.
The map highlights areas with significant tractsof peatland habitats.

www.ramsar.org
Fact Sheet 8.1

Adapted from Lappalainen 1996, with kind permission from IPS

and water and is created by theaccumulation of partially decomposed
plant materials. The layers of peatbuild up over sometimes thousandsof years and preserve other materials
including pollen grains, humanartefacts and ancient bodies, giving us
an unrivalled window into the past.

Global carbon store andclimate mitigation
It has been estimated that peatlands
contain at least 550 Gt of carbon,
which is almost double the amountstored in the world’s forests.
However, when peatlands are drainedhuge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2)
are released making restoration ofgreat importance for climate change
mitigation.

Peat < 5 %Peat 5 % – 10 %Peat > 10 % land area

MangrovesIslands with peat
Bays / lagoons often withassociated peat

Peatland restoration
involves re-wetting andrestoring former hydrology,
creating conditions where
the remaining peat soil is
protected and peat forming
processes are resumed.

The carbon dioxide emitted during fires in Indonesianpeat-swamp forests in 1997 may have beenequivalent to 13 - 40 % of global carbon emissions
from fossil-fuels in that year

Healthy peatlands
provide benefits
for all of us

Peatlands, hotspots
for climate change
mitigation

Peatlands store carbon for millennia
and thereby regulate climate, providewater for millions, prevent floods
and droughts and provide food. They
also support unique biodiversity.
Peatlands are also attractive with many
captivating features for tourism.

About 15% of the peatlands havebeen drained, covering less than 0.4%of the global land surface. Yet thisrelatively small area contributes 5%of global anthropogenic carbon
dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide
emissions will stop when these areas
are re-wetted.

Peatland restoration is now being adopted
as a key priority for action in many parts of the world
Restoration efforts undertaken around theworld are now seeking to restore drained peatlands
in order to re-establish the multiple benefits arisingfrom naturally functioning peatland ecosystems
including mitigating carbon dioxide emissions.

China Ruoergai Plateau
The extensively degraded sedge-peat headwatersof the Yellow River are being re-wetted usingdams and other methods to restore natural waterflows and peatland habitat.

Russia Moscow Province
Following large-scale fires in 2010, 73,000 ha ofagriculturally-drained and industrially-cut peatlands
are now being re-wetted.
For more information on the China, Russia and Indonesia casestudies, please contact Wetlands International: www.wetlands.org

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Works License.

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Fact Sheet 8.2

Nordic and Baltic region
Intensive hydrological and ecological restoration ofpeatlands is now taking place in reaction to centuriesof drainage in Denmark, Estonia, Sweden, and in Finland
where over 20,000 ha of peatlands drained for forestry
have been restored. An assessment of peatlands’
extent and emissions for all countries in the region wassupported by the Nordic Council of Ministers and isavailable at: www.norbalwet.org

Indonesia Central Kalimantan
A 108,000 ha peatland Ecosystem Restoration
Concession has been established in the Katingan areawith a 60-year license, financed with private sector
carbon funding. It is a high biodiversity area supportinga large population of Orangutan. Restoration involves
the closing of drainage ditches, stopping logging andrestoring the vegetation. Paludiculture of native peatswamp species is being piloted with local communities.

The Ramsar Convention
The Convention on Wetlands ofInternational Importance,
commonly known as the Ramsar
Convention, is a global intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international
cooperation for the conservation and wise useof wetlands and their resources. It is the only
global treaty to focus on one single ecosystem.