During the IMCG General Assembly in Paarl, South Africa, a total of 8 IMCG resolutions were adopted (see minutes General Assembly, elsewhere in this Newsletter). Below are the four resolutions that have not yet been published in the Newsletter. All resolutions will also be put on the IMCG website.
The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is a worldwide organisation of mire (peatland) specialists who have a particular interest in the conservation of peatland habitats. The IMCG willingly places its advice and expertise at the disposal of any government seeking to establish or maintain mire conservation programmes.
The IMCG held its 11th biennial General Assembly in Paarl, South Africa in September 2004. At that Assembly the following resolution was adopted with respect to the current provision for conservation of mires in Latvia.
We appreciate the ongoing activities to protect the mires of Latvia in the face of increasing pressure for their utilization in the whole Baltic region. The 8th field symposium and General Assembly of the IMCG was held in Latvia in 1998, and we had the pleasure of visiting many Latvian mire sites. In 2003, the Mire Habitat Management Plan was prepared that provides an overview on Latvian mires, their values, and the management actions necessary for their conservation.
Currently 5 projects under the European Commission financed LIFE-Nature programme include actions related to mire conservation and management. These projects include the restoration of raised bog hydrology with which Latvia can develop expertise and methodology in the restoration of raised bog ecosystems. We welcome the fact that the Ministry of Environment of Latvia supports these projects and trust that this support will continue.
However, the international mire conservation community notes the following additional needs to ensure the conservation of mire biodiversity:
The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is a worldwide organisation of mire (peatland) specialists who have a particular interest in the conservation of peatland habitats. In its 11th Biennual General Assembly meeting in Paarl (South Africa, September, 26, 2004) the following resolution was adopted.
The Chinese Ramsar Convention Implementation Office (State Forestry Administration), jointly working with the National Commission of Development and Reform, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Land Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Construction, the State Environment Protection Administration, and the State Oceanic Administration has recently adopted an ambitious National Wetland Conservation Programme for China for the period 2002-2030. Targets for the near future (before 2010) include
- The stopping of wetland degradation;
- The effective conservation of key wetlands;
- The development of facilities/institutions for 225 wetland reserves, including designation of 30 new Ramsar sites;
- The restoration of at least 1.1 million ha degraded wetlands;
- The development of pilot demonstration sites for wise use of wetlands in 23 sites;
- The development of a national facilitation mechanism and management system (including monitoring, communication, education, and public awareness) for wetlands.
Peatlands in China are highly threatened ecosystems. Major concentrations of peatlands are found in Northeast China (Dongbei) and on the Tibetan plateau. In these areas the large majority of peatlands is used for arable agriculture respectively intensive grazing. Recent estimates indicate that possibly less than 25 % of the original area of peatlands in China has remained as undisturbed, actively peat accumulating wetlands (mires). Large areas of drained peatlands in agricultural use have lost their important natural functions for long-term Carbon storage, regional water regulation, and biodiversity conservation, and are currently subject to severe peat oxidation and erosion.
The International Mire Conservation Group urges the central Government of China and the provincial administrations, following the National Wetland Conservation Programme and Ramsar CoP8 Resolution VIII.17,
- To urgently make an inventory of undrained and still actively peat sequestering peatland sites in China;
- To immediately and effectively protect these peatlands (incl. their hydrological catchment areas) as national nature reserves;
- To designate the main of these peatlands as Ramsar sites, as Chinese peatlands are severely under-represented in the List of Wetlands of International Importance;
- To restore the least degraded peatlands (i.e. recently drained sites with limited vegetation modification and peat soil degradation) to peat accumulating ecosystems without delay in order to restore their environmental regulation and biodiversity functions as long as restoration is still easily possible;
- To develop and implement wise use management systems for peatlands in agricultural use, including the development of pilot demonstration sites;
- To restore cut-over peatlands after peat extraction to new peat accumulating sites;
- To improve awareness and understanding of peatlands functions and values by including peatlands as a theme in national or regional action plans for education and public awareness;
- To review and ensure the necessary institutional capacity for these activities by improving access to information and training facilities;
- To stimulate and support scientific research in peatland conservation, management, and wise use by the instalment of Regional Centres of Peatland Expertise and the establishment of networks for research and programme cooperation to share knowledge and information and improve understanding of the biodiversity, ecological character, values, and functions of China’s peatlands;
- To encourage international cooperation on research and technology transfer for peatland conservation and wise use.
The International Mire Conservation Group will be pleased to assist in these important tasks by contributing its expertise and providing training facilities in peatland ecology, conservation, management, and wise use (e.g. to the Mire and Peat Institute of the Northeast Normal University in Changchun) and to support community participation, education, and public awareness raising.
The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is a worldwide organisation of mire (peatland) specialists who have a particular interest in the conservation of peatland habitats. The IMCG willingly places its advice and expertise at the disposal of any government seeking to establish or maintain mire conservation programmes.
The IMCG held its 11th biennial General Assembly in Paarl, South Africa, in September 2004. At that Assembly the following resolution was adopted with respect to the current provision for mire conservation in South Africa.
The IMCG notes with approval the developments in South Africa since the IMCG adopted the first resolution on South African peatlands (Quebec, August 2000):
- The listing of peat mining as a schedule 2 activity in the new proposed Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) legislation
- The revision of wetland related policies in the proposed Sustainable Utilisation of Agricultural Resources policy
- The recent progress in developing methodology for a South African wetland inventory within the National Land Cover 2000 Project. This project that is executed by various departments will contribute substantially to the mire conservation objectives formulated by the Ramsar and Biodiversity Conventions.
- The laudable activities of the National Land Care initiative in the conservation and improvement of catchments thereby contributing to the wise use of wetlands and mires.
- The impressive actions of the Working for Wetlands partnership (DEAT, Department of Agriculture, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Working for Water Programme and the Mondi Wetland Project). The Working for Wetlands programme is setting an international example in establishing wetland awareness and poverty reduction by rehabilitating and restoring peatlands and wetlands.
However, IMCG notes that there are 5 problems related to the protection of mires that require urgent attention:
1. South Africa still does not have an up-to-date national policy on peat utilisation. This situation, although peat mining is know a listed activity in the new proposed IEM legislation, leads to inefficiency in:
- the enforcing of legislation and policy,
- the monitoring of impacts and exploitation, as well as
- the co-ordination of involved departments on all levels of government, especially as the Peat Working Group is not a formal recognised government committee.
We therefore urge the South African government to ensure:
- a full strategic environmental audit of peatlands in the country, including
- a national peatland inventory
- an inventory of the industrial, horticultural and subsistence utilisation of peat and peatlands, including the costs and benefits of these forms of utilisation
- a re-evaluation of relevant legislation.
- the development of effective governance mechanisms across all three spheres of government
2. Various horticulture related industries utilise peat. The recently increased demand for peat in the mushroom growing industry, by the potting soil sector and for golf estate developments, as well as the proposed extraction of organic fertilizer from peat incite the mining of peat from South African peatlands and constitute a threat for the important environmental and biodiversity functions of these ecosystems.
Alternatives to peat, such as recycled processed wattle barks, do exist but further research is needed to ensure a viable transition to these alternative products.
We therefore urge the South African government to encourage the use of alternative products and to support research into these.
3. Coastal Peatland Swamp Forest (CPSF) is the rarest wetland type in South Africa. The uncontrolled draining and destruction of these forests for commercial as well as subsistence farming in and directly adjacent to the Greater St Lucia World Heritage site (including 4 Ramsar sites) are reason for large concern as these sites are irreversibly damaged. The uncontrolled expansion of forestry via small woodlots sponsored by the forestry industry are further negatively impacting the hydrology of the peatlands in this region.
We do recognise that local communities depend on these ecosystems for agriculture, fibre, medicin and good quality water. However, the continued damage to the CPSF’s will not only destroy the ecosystem and its biodiversity but also the subsistence base of the communities depending on them.
We recognise the efforts of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Authorities and the KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife Services in dealing with this matter but call on the South African Government to encourage and implement comprehensive wise use practices and alternatives within the communities depending on the CPSF’s and other mire and wetland ecosystems.
4. We do regret the decision regarding Braamhoek, because part of a mire will be destroyed of which the international importance became again manifest during our field visit of the site. (cf. resolution France). We request the South African government to ensure that the required mitigation measures as stipulated in the Record of Decision are met to the satisfaction of the environmental authorities and organisations involved.
We further urge effective implementation of mitigatory measures to ensure that the integrity of the remainder of the peatland downstream of the proposed wall is not compromised. Impacts on the wetland as a whole should also be minimised during the construction phase including supporting infrastructure.
5. We have learned that the Lesotho Highlands and adjacent catchments in South Africa provide at present 40 % of the water resources in this part of southern Africa and that it will rise to 70 % in the foreseeable future. It is thus with concern that we observed the level of degradation in mires and other wetlands in Lesotho and adjacent catchments in South Africa.
These mires and wetlands are also important in terms of biodiversity and life support to local communities and we therefore request the South African Government together with its Lesotho counterparts to rehabilitate, conserve and encourage wise use of these systems in the spritit of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Initiatives such as the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Park are crucial but areas outside this park need also to be prioritised such as in the catchment of the Katse Dam and the proposed Mohale dam in Lesotho.
Peatlands, like most wetlands, are under severe pressure internationally and urgently require additional protection (cf. Ramsar Resolution 8-17). The IMCG is willing to make its expertise available to the South African government to assist in these matters.
The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is a worldwide organisation of mire (peatland) specialists who have a particular interest in the conservation of peatland habitats. In its 11th Biennual General Assembly meeting in Paarl (South Africa, September, 26, 2004) the following resolution was adopted.
The rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are changing the climate. The problem is caused by the mobilisation of long-term stored Carbon through the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction/reduction of the Earth’s biomass (forests).To reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, society aims at replacing fossil fuels with renewable alternatives.
The IMCG has noted with concern that peat is being increasingly promoted as a renewable fuel. This has already resulted in
- the European Union directive 2003/96/EC excluding “peat” from the hydrocarbons that have to be taxed for energy production
- Finland and Sweden classifying peat as a “slowly renewable biomass fuel” with associated tax reductions and “green certificates”
- The Russian Federation in its National Energy Strategy that promotes the replacement of oil and gas by biomass, including peat in its biomass concept
- The Russian Ministry of Economy and Trade applying for a grant of over 20 million US$ from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) focal area Climate Change to fund its “Renewable Energy Program (RREP)” in which peat is presented as a renewable resource.
These claims of renewability lack a scientific foundation and are based on suggestive use of terms and false arguments.
With terms like “biomass fuel” (biofuel, biological fuel) the peat lobby aims to verbally disconnect peat from other fossil fuels and associate it with short rotation energy crops like straw and reeds. The prefix “bio-” means “associated with life.” Indeed peat is “associated with life” as it stems from living organisms. But all carbon-based fossil fuels are “associated with life” in that sense. In science, biomass is defined as the mass of living (bios = life) organisms or “living weight” (Odum 1971). Fuel peat is no biomass, as the peat is generally derived from plants that died thousands of years ago.
Another suggestive claim is the renewability of peat. Indeed is peat renewable: it is still being formed at present, like it has been formed since hundreds of millions of years. But this does not distinguish peat from other fossil fuels, as also lignite and coal deposits are still formed today.
Not the renewability (i.e. the fact that they can renew) is relevant from a climate point of view but the rate of renewal (i.e. the time period required for their formation). Burning coal means releasing carbon that has not been part of the atmo- and biosphere for millions of years. Peat burned for fuel is thousands of years old. For coal and peat the rate of renewal is so small that their renewability is irrelevant for society. Renewable with respect to the greenhouse effect means the use of energy sources that replenish as quickly as they are used up (= short rotation).
Furthermore, the fact that a type of fuel is renewable does not mean that it is actually renewed. If the fuel is not given opportunity to renew, the use of a “renewable” fuel contributes as much to the greenhouse effect as any non-renewable fuel.
Erroneously it is often claimed that after a peatland has been exploited, peat accumulation will re-start and greenhouse gases will be stored again. This may indeed be the case but the rates involved are only a fraction of those emitted by burning thick layers of peat.
The most common argument used to defend the renewability of peat fuel is that less peat is extracted than is annually accumulating. This argument is false for a range of reasons:
- In almost all countries of Europe, in the whole of Europe, and over the whole Earth more peat is disappearing than is being formed. Next to the actual extraction of peat, enormous losses occur in agricultural, forested, and cutover peatlands. In claiming renewability of fuel peat, all of the gains (all peat accumulation in a country or a region) are falsely balanced with only part of the losses (only from peat extraction).
- Much peat accumulating “elsewhere” is not available for exploitation, because of technical or conservational reasons. Peat that is not available is no “resource” and may not be used for balancing losses through peat combustion.
- Peat extraction is not only consuming peat but also destroying the peat accumulating ecosystems. Unless peat is actively regenerating on the cutover sites, the resource will eventually be depleted. And that is the current situation on Earth. The area of cutover bogs that has been restored to peat accumulating ecosystems is negligible and stands in no proportion to the area degraded by peat extraction.
- The peatlands whose CO2 sequestration is claimed for balancing CO2 emissions from peat combustion were already part of the greenhouse balance long before the anthropogenic rise of atmospheric CO2-levels. They were and are part of the natural sink system that compensates natural sources. These natural sources include the methane (CH4) emissions from natural peatlands.
- Peat extraction and combustion creates an extra source of greenhouse gases. To be greenhouse neutral, additional sources require additional sinks. Peat extraction is mobilising new carbon sources without creating such new sinks. Also in this respect, burning peat does not differ from burning coal.
Peat combustion is not a climate neutral activity. There may be honest reasons to locally – and with due observation of the many other values of peatlands -, use peat for fuel, but these reasons do not include renewability.
International conventions increasingly acknowledge the globally important carbon storage and sequestration function of peatlands (Ramsar Convention November 2002, Convention on Biodiversity February 2004). We urge the bodies addressed to correct the contradictions and to prevent an expansion of peat combustion for its “renewability”.