UNFCCC COP 14 December 2008 Side event 8

UNFCCC COP 14 December 2008 Side event 8 th December 2008 Peatland Stocks and emissions Faizal Parish Global Environment Centre Andrey Sirin, Russian Academy Of Science Hans Joosten, International Mire Conservation Group Tatiana Minaeva, Wetlands International Marcel Silvius, Wetlands International Integrated Management of of Peatlands for Biodiversity and Climate Change

Presentation Peatlands n Nature and values of peatlands n Peatland emissions and associated factors n Reduction of emissions n

Info Sources n n Assessment on Peatlands Biodiversity and Climate Change (GEC and Wetlands International) Global Database on peatlands (IMCG) n www. wetlands. org n www. peat-portal. net n www. gecnet. info

What are peatlands Peatlands are wetlands where : a) waterlogging delays Colchis, Georgia

Peat accumulates for thousands of years storing concentrated Carbon in thick layers peat from 2 m deep Lesotho

Peatlands are everywhere… Covering 4 million km 2, primarily in the boreal, subarctic and tropical zones, peatlands are found in almost every country.

… from the tundra … Yakutia, RF

… to the tropics and … Borneo

… from the mountains … Kyrgystan

Over permafrost NWT, Canada

Under grasslands … Sichuan, China

… along the rivers … Kyrgystan Ruaha River Tanzania

… to the sea … Archangelsk, RF

Peatlands are water Flow Country, Scotland

Peatlands regulate climate Pechora, RF

Peatland has high Biodiversity

Peatlands have high ecosystem diversity Finland

Many indigenous cultures and local communities depend on peatlands.

Peatlands Feed communities People in Peat swamp Forest in Pahang Fishing, Pahang, Malaysia Source: UNDP-GEF PSF Project

Peatlands support communities Jelutong - Chewing Gum tree, Indonesia

Peatlands and carbon Kyrgystan Peatlands are the most space-effective carbon (C) stocks of all terrestrial ecosystems.

While covering only 3% of the World’s land area, peatlands contain 550 Billion tonnes of carbon in

This is equivalent to twice the carbon stock in the forest biomass of the world.

Ruoergai China This makes peatlands the top long-term carbon stock in the terrestrial biosphere.

Peatland drainage and fires are one of the main sources of carbon released to the atmosphere from the land use sector.

Distribution of peatlands Total area in 106 km 2 Continent in % of global land area % of area of continent % of global peatland area Africa 30. 37 20. 3 58, 534 1. 9 1. 4 Antarctica 13. 72 9. 2 1 0. 0 Asia 43. 81 29. 3 1, 523, 287 3. 5 36. 7 9. 01 6. 0 8, 009 0. 1 0. 2 Europe 10. 40 7. 0 514, 882 5. 0 12. 4 North America 24. 49 16. 4 1, 884, 493 7. 7 45. 3 South America 17. 84 11. 9 166, 253 0. 9 4. 0 149. 64 100. 0 4, 155, 459 2. 8 100. 0 Continents Australasia (Oceania) Total Peatlands in km 2

Top 15 countries for peatland area Peatland area (km ) Country 2 1 Russia 1, 390, 000 2 Canada 1, 177, 000 3 USA 625, 000 4 Indonesia 270, 000 5 Finland 85, 000 6 Sweden 66, 000 7 Brazil 55, 000 8 Peru 50, 000 9 Papua New Guinea 28, 942 10 Norway 28, 000 11 Malaysia 25, 000 12 Belarus 23, 500 13 United Kingdom 17, 500 14 Dem. Republic of the Congo 14, 000 15 Uganda 14, 000

Peat compared to other stores

The main impacts on peatlands include drainage for agriculture and forestry and associated peat fires, peat extraction, infrastructure and pollution

Drained peat releases carbon • Drainage to 1 meter = emission of 90 ton CO 2/ha/yr in tropics - 30 ton CO 2/ha/yr in temperate region • SE Asia: Agriculture & agro-forestry on 12 million ha contributes around 600 Mt. CO 2/yr (drainage only)

Main regions with peatland emisions from drainage

Burning peat releases more carbon • Tentative average annual emissions estimate: 1400 to 4300 Mt CO 2/y

Emissions from peatlands globally Cause Unit Drained peatlands in SE Asia 1 Drained area CO 2 emission Mio Ha Ton CO 2 ha -1 a-1 12 50 Peatland fires in SE Asia 1 Peatland agriculture outside SE Asia Urbanisation, infrastructure on peatland Total CO 2 emission Mton a-1 600 1, 400 30 25 750 5 30 150 Peat extraction 60 Boreal peatland forestry 12 1 12 Temperate/tropical peatland forestry 3. 5 30 105 Total 63 3, 077

Peatlands in relation to other emissions Peatland global emissions – 3 billion tonnes CO 2 n Land Use Change 5. 3 -7 Billion tonnes n Peatland emissions are 40% of global land use change emissions n

Issues Permanence n Emission trends n Methane and Nitrous oxide n

Peatlands have greater potential for permanence than any other terrestrial ecosystem (All Coal and lignite and part of the oil and gas originated from

Future trends in emissions

Water levels and methane emissions in temperate peatlands per year

Water levels and methane emissions in tropical peatlands per hour

Water levels and nitrous oxide emissions in tropical peatlands per hour

Emission reduction n n Stopping or controlling drainage and fire are the most important and cost effective measures to reduce peatland emissions. Increasing water levels in peatlands decreases Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions but may increases methane only in non-forested peatlands. The result is a net reduction in GHG emission. Pilot emission reduction projects have demonstrated that rapid reductions in emission can be achieved within months or at most a few years after the management interventions. Large scale emission reductions are possible at relatively low cost of $1 -5/tonne of Carbon dioxide. Emission reductions often have more permanence and less leakage that other land use emission reduction options.

n Rehabilitation of Degraded peatlands through blocking abandoned drainage

Thailand – Peat Reforestation

Conclusions n n n Peatlands are the most important terrestrial carbon store. Peatland drainage and fire releases about 3 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide per year – equivalent to about 40% of total emissions from land use change – equal to all emissions from deforestation – but on only 3% of the land area. Peatland stocks naturally have a long permanence, but after degradation can generate long term emissions. Drainage may reduce methane emissions in some peatlands but increases nitrous oxide emissions. Control of peatland emissions is arguably more strategic that control of all other land use change and land use emissions

Thank you