As the attention of much of the world is on the 26th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (or COP26) in Glasgow the importance of the need to tackle global heating and other catastrophic events that could impact upon the environmental is clear.
One area in the UK attempting to reinforce the message is St. Pancras, one of London’s busiest railway stations. The rail centre has 15 stations and sees around 36 million passengers each year.
The current focus is with a campaign designed to highlight the importance of protecting and restoring the UK’s peatlands. Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter and peatlands are the most efficient carbon sinks on the planet.
For this, St. Pancras has partnered with Forest Carbon, a campaign group who are helping to finance peatland restoration, to support the vital ecosystem. The station’s management are making a contribution for restoration of the Gameshope Loch peatlands in Scotland.
In terms of the restoration project, the idea is that a combination of bare peat re-vegetation, hagg re-profiling and gully blocking will allow the water table to rise and peat-forming plant species to re-colonise the area.
Peatlands are wetland ecosystems where waterlogged conditions prevent plant material from fully decomposing. This process leads to an accumulation of peat.
The process of peat accumulation means that peatlands are carbon rich ecosystems that store and sequester more carbon than any other type of terrestrial ecosystem.
When peatlands are drained this contributes negatively to the environment as the carbon from organic matter contained in peat dries and oxidizes gradually to carbon dioxide.
This means the protection and restoration of peatlands is vital in the transition towards a low-carbon and circular economy.
Unfortunately, over 80 percent of peatlands in the UK are damaged to some extent, according to an academic report.
While peatland protection is not taking centre stage at COP26 the issue is being discussed at the side lines. For example, the Peatland Pavilion is exhibiting and this provides a platform to exchange knowledge and experience of successful action on peatland policy, practice, research and innovation.
