Peatlands across the world: a global asset and vital carbon store. Hans Joosten Greifswald University International Mire Conservation Group

Transcription

1 Peatlands across the world: a global asset and vital carbon store Hans Joosten Greifswald University International Mire Conservation Group

2 The neglected carbon pool: SOC Soil Organic Carbon holds 6x more carbon than the entire global forest biomass

3 The SOC hotspot Peatlands (organic soils) on 3% of the land contain 30% of all Soil Organic Carbon

4 The land use emission hotspot CO 2 emission Drained and degraded peatlands on 0.3% of the land emit 6% of all anthropogenic CO 2

5 In living peatlands: Production is larger than decay Dead plants accumulate as peat Kolkheti, Georgia

6 Lesotho Peat accumulates during thousands of years and stores concentrated carbon in thick layers Peat of 2 m deep

7 Peatlands are found in almost every country. Worldwide: 4 million km 2

8 from the tundra Yakutia, RF

9 to the tropics and Brunei

10 to the uttermost part of the World Tierra del Fuego Argentina

11 from the mountains Kyrgystan

12 to the sea Archangelsk, RF

13 Compared to other formations, peatlands contain disproportionally much carbon (largely in their soil)

14 Kalimantan When drained, peatlands become vigorous sources of carbon dioxide (and nitrous oxide)

15 Ireland As a result the peatlands of the World have turned from a carbonsink to a carbon-source (although 80% is still pristine ).

16 Globally, degraded peatlands emit 2 Gigatonnes CO2 a-1

17 Indonesia leads the list of global top emitters

18 Germany But the EU is a good second : In the EU 80% of the CO 2 emissions from agricultural land use come from peatland!

19 Panama Globally, emissions from drained peatland have increased with +25% since 1990, especially in the tropics

20 Main drivers: drained agriculture Kalimantan

21 although peatlands are not particularly suited for that purpose

22 overgrazing Tibet

23 Lesotho with associated peatland degradation

24 drained forestry Germany

25 Norway often with exotic species

26 peat extraction

27 for energy generation.

28 and horticultural substrates

29 Peatland drainage causes problems (next to emissions) Ruanda

30 Drained peatland subsides, becomes wetter and requires ever deeper drainage, leading to further subsidence

31 the devil s cycle of mainstream peatland utilisation wet peatland wetting drainage subsidence

32 Bavaria: 3 m loss since 1836 UK: 4 m loss since 1870

33 Ukraine Former 5,200 ha large peatland in Hirnyky (Ukraine) where after four decades of drainage and agriculture all peat is gone

34 Nether-lands Nether-lands: bogged down: 1000 yr of peatland drainage, now half the country deep under sea level

35 Nether-lands: bogged down: 1000 yr of peatland drainage, Nether-lands now half the country deep under sea level In tropics subsidence 10 times faster!

36 Many tropical peatlands are coastal and will - with continuous drainage and >2000 mm of rainfall - become undrainable

37 In Sarawak, 30 years of oil palm plantation on coastal peatland will lead to the loss of >10% of the entire land area

38 In Sumatra gravity drainage of pulp plantations will become impossible before investments in pulp factories are amortised

39 In Germany, ten thousands of hectares of agricultural peatland have already been given up as they could no longer be drained

40 Lousiana We tend to forget that peatland should be wet

41 and call the inevitable consequences of peatland drainage natural catastrophes

42 Ukraine In continental areas peat soils degrade irreversibly. In Belarus, Ukraine and Russia millions of hectares have been abandoned

43 Desertification after peatland overgrazing Mongolia

44 and drained peatlands burn, even under snow... Russia

45 We can t continue like this! Many countries are huge potential peatland CO 2 -emittors

46 2012 Durban UNFCCC - KP IPCC Supplement IPCC 2013 GPG LULUCF Recent climate policy developments Wetland drainage and rewetting is a system of practices for draining and rewetting on land with organic soil that covers a minimum area of 1 hectare. The activity applies to all lands that have been drained since 1990 and to all lands that have been rewetted since 1990 and that are not accounted for under any other activity as defined in this annex, where drainage is the direct human-induced lowering of the soil water table and rewetting is the direct human-induced partial or total reversal of drainage.

47 Recent carbon market developments Peatland conservation & rewetting Since March 2011 global standard MRV Methodologies in development Experiences summarized

48 Regional standards Projects under Kyoto Protocol (Joint Implementation) not yet possible (only rules for sinks, not for avoided sources) VCS projects expensive because of independent third party verification and validation Regional standards For regional markets: us knows us Concrete areas: better identification

49 Emissionen in Mio. Tonnen CO2-eq.pro Jahr Peatlands are single most important source of emissions in Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania 7 naturnahe/ ungenutzte Moore landwirtschaftlich genutzte Moore forstwirtschaftlich genutzte Moore öffentl. Strom- und Fernwärmeversorgung Industrie Verkehr Kleinverbraucher Emissionen aus den Mooren Emissionsquellen In the German federal state of Mecklenburg- SEITE 49 Vorpommern peatland emissions are very large

50

51 Polder Kieve Einsparpotential: Tonnen Kohlendioxidäquvivalente Status: Projektumsetzung in Vorbereitung Summe der stillgelegten Zertifikate: Laufzeit: 50 Jahre Laufzeitbeginn: 2012 Summe noch verfügbarer Zertifikate: lfd Nummer stillgelegte CO 2 Emissionen zugunsten WEMAG AG Hotel Speicher, Schwerin N.N Ursula Kleest, Norderstedt Dr. Mechthild Baron Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH Dr. Franz Alt McDonald's Deutschland Inc Europäischer Verband der Veranstaltungs-Centren e.v Hof Blanken

52 uly 2012 irst older ewetted

53 Other benefits: MoorFutures 2.0: peatlands are much more than just carbon biodiversity water retention nutrient retention local cooling tourism production (paludicultures) 53

54 Recent new policy attention UNEP UN-FAO UNESCO- SCOPE

55 Jakutien, RF FAO: Causes peatlands consequences Climate change mitigation food security

56 Drained peatland use destroys its subsistence base That thing with the Three gears cannot work. Can it, daddy? No girl, It can t fodder fuel food security productivity fiber salt intrusion land loss subsidence acid sulphate soils flooding haze ghg emissions drainage biodiversity loss fire

57 FAO: Decision support tree Start Do you have organic soils? NO Are you sure? YES This report is not relevant for you YES NO Choose the relevant type(s) Use chapter Wet organic soils 7 Drained organic soils 8 Is productive use necessary? YES Paludiculture chapter Check paludiculture options 8 Is productive use necessary? NO NO YES NO Is the ecosystem pristine? NO Can a near-nature state be restored? Rewetting chapter 2.3 YES Is rewetting possible? YES YES NO NO 10 Conservation chapter 2.1 Restoration chapter 2.3 Check restoration options Best practice chapter 2.4 Hazard control chapter 2.5

58 FAO: Decision support tree Start Do you have organic soils? NO Are you sure? YES This report is not relevant for you YES NO Choose the relevant type(s) Use chapter Wet organic soils 7 Drained organic soils 8 Is productive use necessary? YES Paludiculture chapter Check paludiculture options 8 Is productive use necessary? NO NO YES NO Is the ecosystem pristine? NO Can a near-nature state be restored? Rewetting chapter 2.3 YES Is rewetting possible? YES YES NO NO 10 Conservation chapter 2.1 Restoration chapter 2.3 Check restoration options Best practice chapter 2.4 Hazard control chapter 2.5

59 Kenya UNFCCC 2006 (Nairobi): In Kenya there is no peat

60 Panama UNFCCC 2011 (Panama): We didn t know we hàd peat swamps

61 Peru White peatland spots on the map: e.g. Amazon basin: Mauritia flexuosa peatland

62 Congo White peatland spots on the map: e.g. Congo: Peat swamp forest directly on the Equator. The interfluve is 30 km wide

63 Uganda Partly under rapid conversion: drained peatlands in Kisoro

64 Uganda Ruhuma Fen (Kabale District) largely converted since 2003

65 FAO: Decision support tree Wet organic soils Is productive use necessary? NO Is the ecosystem pristine? YES Conservation chapter 2.1 YES NO Paludiculture chapter 2.2 NO Can a near-nature state be restored? YES Restoration chapter 2.3

66 FAO: Decision support tree Wet organic soils Is productive use necessary? NO Is the ecosystem pristine? YES Conservation chapter 2.1 YES NO Paludiculture chapter 2.2 NO Can a near-nature state be restored? YES Restoration chapter 2.3

67 Kenya Non-used peatlands are not use-less: they provide vital ecosystem services

68 and are important for biodiversity Panama

69 FAO: Decision support tree Wet organic soils Is productive use necessary? NO Is the ecosystem pristine? YES Conservation chapter 2.1 YES NO Paludiculture chapter 2.2 NO Can a near-nature state be restored? YES Restoration chapter 2.3

70 Poland If you need to use them, use them wet: paludicultures!

71 Poland Paludiculture is agriculture/grazing/forestry on wet peatland

72 Kalimantan Worldwide inventory of potential paludiculture plants..

73 Wet alder forestry: biomass ánd peat accumulation Germany

74 Indonesia Rewetting with paludiculture reduces peatland emissions and produces renewable biomass resources: Jelutung rubber tree

75 FAO: Decision support tree Drained organic soils Check paludiculture options Rewetting chapter 2.3 YES Is productive use necessary? YES Is rewetting possible? NO Check restoration options NO Best practice chapter 2.4 NO Hazard control chapter 2.5

76 FAO: Decision support tree Drained organic soils Check paludiculture options Rewetting chapter 2.3 YES Is productive use necessary? YES Is rewetting possible? NO Check restoration options NO Best practice chapter 2.4 NO Hazard control chapter 2.5

77 Kalimantan Rewetting to reduce haze and emissions

78 Germany Rewetting to reduce emissions and to reduce drainage costs

79 Belarus Rewetting to reduce emissions and restore biodiversity

80 Germany Rewetting with paludiculture to reduces emissions and to produce renewable biomass resources

81 FAO: Decision support tree Drained organic soils Check paludiculture options Rewetting chapter 2.3 Is productive use necessary? YES Is rewetting possible? NO Check restoration options NO Best practice chapter 2.4 NO Hazard control chapter 2.5

82 Used and not rewet-able Minimize drainage as far as possible Choose crops adapted to high soil moisture Avoid plowing Cultivate permanent crops that reduce surface temperatures Avoid land clearing by fire Limit fertilization

83 i.e.: no desert plants on drained peatland: Aloe vera

84 i.e.: no mays for bio - gas on drained peatland Germany

85 i.e.: no oil palm for biofuel on drained peatland Malaysia

86 FAO: Decision support tree Drained organic soils Check paludiculture options Rewetting chapter 2.3 YES Is productive use necessary? YES Is rewetting possible? NO Check restoration options NO Best practice chapter 2.4 NO Hazard control chapter 2.5

87 Peatlands burn if drained, abandoned and easily accessible. Better prevent this!

88 Brunei Secure undrained peatlands Rewet/restore drained/degraded peatlands Adapt management of peatlands that cannot be rewetted

89 Rewet: for peatlands, for people, for ever ;-)