A NEW voluntary certification that will help restore Ireland’s peatland and boost climate resilience by allowing farmers and landowners to demonstrate the environmental benefit of their activities has launched for public consultation.
According to estimates, the restoration of the 700,000 hectares of degraded peatlands in the country could help to avoid up to 2 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
The Peatland Standard for Ireland will help landowners attract funding to accelerate peatland revival. Those wishing to restore peatlands on their own land will be able to fund their projects by offering verified ecosystem certificates encompassing carbon, biodiversity and water benefits to organisations wanting to invest in and support conservation and sustainability initiatives.
Irish peatlands are waterlogged, carbon-rich habitats for diverse species which regulate water flow, quality and flood risks. However, most Irish bogs are degraded due to human activities.
The new science-based certification creates a methodology to quantify improvements across emission reductions, water storage and quality, biodiversity, ecosystem functions, community benefits, and wildfire prevention.
The development of the Standard has been supported by a €495,000 commitment from Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund, as well as the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; and the Natural Capital Financing Facility (NCFF) of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The Standard has been developed over the past 15 months, and is now under public consultation with the expectation to go live early next year. It was developed by Peatland Finance Ireland, a not-for-profit supported by academic, not-for-profit, governmental and semi-state bodies.
The work of Peatland Finance Ireland aligns with Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, which cites the potential of peatland restoration to reduce emissions through nature-based solutions. The certification will comply with international environmental principles and align with the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification Framework. Independent third-party auditors, working to ISO standards, will validate and verify ecosystem improvement claims.
The public consultation on the Peatland Standard is open until December 5th, seeking input from farmers and landowners, community networks, potential project developers, investors and the public at www.peatlandfinance.ie
