Peatland Restoration Standard and Technical Guidelines for England and Wales

Peatlands are the world’s largest terrestrial carbon store. When in good condition, these habitats store carbon, as well as providing other ecosystem services. But degraded peatlands are a source of carbon emissions, in the UK this is in the region of 15 MtCO2e each year (2022). Peatlands support a unique but threatened biodiversity, with only peatlands in good or recovering condition supporting the full range of typical peatland species. The restoration of peatland habitats is therefore critical for achieving net zero commitments in and for meeting statutory targets around biodiversity and habitat. This research project seeks to expand our evidence base when considering ‘what good looks like’ for peatland restoration projects. These findings will be used to test and develop a peatland restoration standard (what works, and what we should be aiming for in terms of restoration outcomes) alongside new technical guidelines for the sector