The end of summer brought welcome rains to much of eastern Australia (including floods). There is speculation that this may be the end of the drought that eastern Australia has been suffering from (to varying degrees) for the past 5 years – which has included several large scale peatland fires. This can only be beneficial to the peatlands of the region, many of which are located in climates that are marginal for peat formation.
In IMCG there has been activity on peatlands in several regional fronts, as well as drafting of the IMCG Strategy and Action Plan (as discussed at the IMCG field symposium in Finland last year). The draft is currently being finalised (with thanks to John Couwenberg) and will be placed on the IMCG website.
There is some discussion as to whether peat can be considered a renewable, ‘green’ fuel in the EU. (see IMCG website). In their guidelines the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that ‘peat is not considered a biofuel in these guidelines due to the length of time required for peat to re-accumulate after harvest…..Note that peat is treated as a fossil carbon in these guidelines as it takes so long to replace harvested peat.’ This is a position that the IMCG endorses.
Enjoy the peat news from around the globe.
Jennie Whinam